A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Xiii Part 24

[Footnote 125: They reckon two seasons or monsoons in this climate. The east, or good one, begins about the end of April, and continues till about the beginning of October. During this, the trade-winds usually blow from the south-east and east-south-east, and there is fine weather, with a clear sky. The west, or bad monsoon, begins about the end of November, or commencement of December, and continues till towards the end of February, during which the winds are mostly from the west. This is the most unhealthy season. It has been remarked, but not explained, that the periods of the monsoons are not so regular as they once were, so that neither their beginning nor end can be so confidently depended on. The months not included in either of the monsoons are called s.h.i.+fting-months.--E.]

On the 8th of December, the s.h.i.+p being perfectly refitted, and having taken in most of her water and stores, and received the sick on board, we ran up to Batavia Road, and anch.o.r.ed in four fathom and a half of water.[126]

[Footnote 126: Batavia Road is reckoned one of the best in the world for size, safety, and goodness of anchorage. It is open indeed from the north-west to east north-east and east; nevertheless, s.h.i.+ps lie quite secure in it, as there are several islands on that side which break the force of the waves. There is no occasion for mooring stern and stern in it.--E.]

From this time, to the 24th, we were employed in getting on board the remainder of our water and provisions, with some new pumps, and in several other operations that were necessary to fit the s.h.i.+p for the sea, all which would have been effected much sooner, if sickness and death had not disabled or carried off a great number of our men.

While we lay here, the Earl of Elgin, Captain Cook, a s.h.i.+p belonging to the English East India Company, came to anchor in the road. She was bound from Madras to China, but having lost her pa.s.sage, put in here to wait for the next season. The Phoenix, Captain Black, an English country s.h.i.+p, from Bencoolen, also came to an anchor at this place.

In the afternoon of Christmas-eve, the 24th, I took leave of the governor, and several of the princ.i.p.al gentlemen of the place, with whom I had formed connexions, and from whom I received every possible civility and a.s.sistance; but in the mean time an accident happened which might have produced disagreeable consequences. A seaman had run away from one of the Dutch s.h.i.+ps in the road, and entered on board of mine: The captain had applied to the governor to reclaim him as a subject of Holland, and an order for that purpose was procured: This order was brought to me soon after I returned from my last visit, and I said, that if the man appeared to be a Dutchman, he should certainly be delivered up. Mr Hicks commanded on board, and I gave the Dutch officer an order to him to deliver the man up under that condition. I slept myself this night on sh.o.r.e, and in the morning the captain of the Dutch commodore came and told me that he had carried my order on board, but that the officer had refused to deliver up the man, alleging not only that he was not a Dutchman, but that he was a subject of Great Britain, born in Ireland; I replied, that the officer had perfectly executed my orders, and that if the man was an English subject, it could not be expected that I should deliver him up. The captain then said, that he was just come from the governor to demand the man of me in his name, as a subject of Denmark, alleging that he stood in the s.h.i.+p's books as born at Elsineur. The claim of this man as a subject of Holland being now given up, I observed to the captain that there appeared to be some mistake in the general's message, for that he would certainly never demand a Danish seaman from me who had committed no other crime than preferring the service of the English to that of the Dutch. I added, however, to convince him of my sincere desire to avoid disputes, that if the man was a Dane, he should be delivered up as a courtesy, though he could not be demanded as a right; but that if I found he was an English subject, I would keep him at all events. Upon these terms we parted, and soon after I received a letter from Mr Hicks, containing indubitable proof that the seaman in question was a subject of his Britannic majesty. This letter I immediately carried to the shebander, with a request that it might be shewn to the governor, and that his excellency might at the same time be told I would not upon any terms part with the man. This had the desired effect, and I heard no more of the affair.[127]

[Footnote 127: Whatever may be thought of the advantage of such policy, it is certain that Cook acted here in the full spirit of a British officer and _minister_. Every reader must be aware how materially the same determination on the part of our government has tended to embroil us with the Americans, betwixt whom and us, the question of fact, as to country, is often much more difficult of solution than it can well be where any other people oppose our claims.--E.]

In the evening I went on board, accompanied by Mr Banks, and the rest of the gentlemen who had constantly resided on sh.o.r.e, and who, though better, were not yet perfectly recovered.

At six in the morning of the 26th, we weighed and set sail, with a light breeze at S.W. The Elgin Indiaman saluted us with three cheers and thirteen guns, and the garrison with fourteen; both which, with the help of our swivels, we returned, and soon after the sea-breeze set in at N.

by W. which obliged us to anchor just without the s.h.i.+ps in the road.

At this time the number of sick on board amounted to forty, and the rest of the s.h.i.+p's company were in a very feeble condition. Every individual had been sick except the sail-maker, an old man between seventy and eighty years of age; and it is very remarkable, that this old man, during our stay at this place, was constantly drunk every day:[128] We had buried seven, the surgeon, three seamen, Mr Green's servant, Tupia, and Tayeto, his boy. All but Tupia fell a sacrifice to the unwholesome, stagnant, putrid air of the country, and he who, from his birth, had been used to subsist chiefly upon vegetable food, particularly ripe fruit, soon contracted all the disorders that are incident to a sea life, and would probably have sunk under them before we could have completed our voyage, if we had not been obliged to go to Batavia to refit.

[Footnote 128: Cases similar to this are of constant occurrence, and are familiarly known to medical men who have a principle to account for it.

The _continual_ operation of exciting causes so as to produce a certain degree of action of the system, will prevent, as well as remedy, diseases of debility. The plague has been kept off by a like treatment on the same principle, and so has the ague, an intermitting fever so formidable in some countries. Giving over or abating of this stimulating treatment, however, if other circ.u.mstances remain the same, will, of course, render the person as obnoxious as ever to attack, or rather more so. It is evident that at times this cure is as bad as the disease; for scarcely any state of health is more deplorably fatal than constant drunkenness.--E.]

SECTION x.x.xVIII.

_Some Account of Batavia, and the adjacent Country; with their Fruits, Flowers, and other Productions_.

Batavia, the capital of the Dutch dominions in India, and generally supposed to have no equal among all the possessions of the Europeans in Asia, is situated on the north side of the island of Java, in a low fenny plain, where several small rivers, which take their rise in the mountains called Blaeuwen Berg, about forty miles up the country, empty themselves into the sea, and where the coast forms a large bay, called the Bay of Batavia, at the distance of about eight leagues from the streight of Sunda. It lies in lat.i.tude 6 10' S., and longitude 106 50'

E. from the meridian of Greenwich, as appears from astronomical observations made upon the spot, by the Rev. Mr Mohr, who has built an elegant observatory, which is as well furnished with instruments as most in Europe.[129]

[Footnote 129: Batavia, called by some writers, the Queen of the East, on account of its wealth and the beauty of its buildings, is situate very near the sea, in a fertile plain, watered by the river Jaccatra, which divides the town. The sea-sh.o.r.e is on the north of the city; and on the south the land rises with a very gentle slope to the mountains, which are about fifteen leagues inland. One of these is of great height, and is called the Blue Mountain. The early history of this city is given in the tenth volume of the Modern Universal History, to which the reader is referred for information which it would perhaps be tedious to detail in this place. Batavia, the reader will easily imagine, has been much impaired by the calamities of her European parent; but, indeed, for some considerable time before they commenced, she had very materially declined in consequence and power.--E.]

The Dutch seem to have pitched upon this spot for the convenience of water-carriage, and in that it is indeed a second Holland, and superior to every other place in the world. There are very few streets that have not a ca.n.a.l of considerable breadth running through them, or rather stagnating in them, and continued for several miles in almost every direction beyond the town, which is also intersected by five or six rivers, some of which are navigable thirty or forty miles up the country.[130] As the houses are large, and the streets wide, it takes up a much greater extent, in proportion to the number of houses it contains, than any city in Europe. Valentyn, who wrote an account of it about the year 1726, says, that in his time there were, within the walls, 1242 Dutch houses, and 1200 Chinese; and without the walls, 1066 Dutch, and 1240 Chinese, besides 12 arrack houses, making in all 4760: But this account appeared to us to be greatly exaggerated, especially with respect to the number of houses within the walls.

[Footnote 130: The river Jaccatra, as has been mentioned, runs through the city, viz. from south to north, and having three bridges, one near the castle, at the lower end, another at the upper end, and the third about the centre of the town. It is from 160 to 180 feet broad, within the city, and is fortified, though indifferently, at its mouth, which, however, is of less importance, as a continually increasing bar renders access to the city by it impracticable for large vessels.--E.]

The streets are s.p.a.cious and handsome, and the banks of the ca.n.a.ls are planted with rows of trees, that make a very pleasing appearance; but the trees concur with the ca.n.a.ls to make the situation unwholesome.[131]

The stagnant ca.n.a.ls in the dry season exhale an intolerable stench, and the trees impede the course of the air, by which, in some degree, the putrid effluvia would be dissipated. In the wet season the inconvenience is equal, for then these reservoirs of corrupted water overflow their banks in the lower part of the town, especially in the neighbourhood of the hotel, and fill the lower stories of the houses, where they leave behind them an inconceivable quant.i.ty of slime and filth: Yet these ca.n.a.ls are sometimes cleaned; but the cleaning them is so managed as to become as great a nuisance as the foulness of the water; for the black mud that is taken from the bottom is suffered to lie upon the banks, that is, in the middle of the street, till it has acquired a sufficient degree of hardness to be made the lading of a boat, and carried away. As this mud consists chiefly of human ordure, which is regularly thrown into the ca.n.a.ls every morning, there not being a necessary-house in the whole town, it poisons the air while it is drying, to a considerable extent. Even the running streams become nuisances in their turn, by the nastiness or negligence of the people; for every now and then a dead hog, or a dead horse, is stranded upon the shallow parts, and it being the business of no particular person to remove the nuisance, it is negligently left to time and accident. While we were here, a dead buffalo lay upon the shoal of a river that ran through one of the princ.i.p.al streets, above a week, and at last was carried away by a flood.[132]

[Footnote 131: Some of the streets are paved, but they consist of a hard clay which allows of being made plain and smooth; and within the city there are stone foot paths along their sides.--E.]

[Footnote 132: Five roads lead from the city into the country, all of which are finely planted with trees, and have very agreeable gardens on both sides. These roads run along the course of the rivulets or ca.n.a.ls which form so remarkable a feature in the history and appearance of this city. The environs of Batavia have always been highly commended for their beauty and the fertility of the soil; the consequence, no doubt, of the extraordinary care taken to have them well watered--E.]

The houses are in general well adapted to the climate; they consist of one very large room, or hall, on the ground floor, with a door at each end, both which generally stand open: At one end a room is taken off by a part.i.tion, where the master of the house transacts his business; and in the middle, between each end, there is a court, which gives light to the hall, and at the same time increases the draught of air. From one corner of the hall the stairs go up to the floor above, where also the rooms are s.p.a.cious and airy. In the alcove, which is formed by the court, the family dine; and at other times it is occupied by the female slaves, who are not allowed to sit down any where else.[133]

[Footnote 133: The houses are mostly built of brick, stuccoed without, and with sash-windows, so as to have a light agreeable appearance. The plan of their internal construction is much the same in the whole. On one side of a narrow pa.s.sage into which you enter from the street, you have a parlour, and a little farther on, a large long room, lighted from an inner court, as is mentioned in the text. The rooms in general are badly furnished, and are floored with dark-red stones. The upper rooms are laid out like the under ones; Few of the private houses have gardens.--E.]

The public buildings are most of them old, heavy, and ungraceful; but the new church is not inelegant; it is built with a dome, that is seen from a great distance at sea, and though the outside has rather a heavy appearance, the inside forms a very fine room: It is furnished with an organ of a proper size, being very large, and is most magnificently illuminated by chandeliers.[134]

[Footnote 134: There are several churches for the reformed religion, and service is performed in the Dutch, Portuguese, and Malay languages. The description in the text is believed to apply to the Lutheran church, erected during the government of Baron Van Imhof.--E.]

The town is enclosed by a stone wall of a moderate height; but the whole of it is old, and many parts are much out of repair. This wall itself is surrounded by a river, which in some places is fifty, and in some a hundred yards wide: The stream is rapid, but the water is shallow. The wall is also lined within by a ca.n.a.l, which in different parts is of different breadths; so that, in pa.s.sing either out or in through the gates, it is necessary to cross two draw-bridges; and there is no access for idle people or strangers to walk upon the ramparts, which seem to be but ill provided with guns.[135]

[Footnote 135: The wall is built of coral rock, and part of it, according to Sir Geo. Staunton's account, of lava of a dark-blue colour, and firm hard texture. It has twenty two bastions mounted with artillery, and is surrounded by a broad moat, generally well filled with water. There are five gates to the city; two on the south, the New Gate, and the Diast Gate; one on the north, the Square Gate; Rotterdam Gate on the east; and the Utrecht Gate on the west--E.]

In the north-east corner of the town stands the castle or citadel, the walls of which are both higher and thicker than those of the town, especially near the landing-place, where there is depth of water only for boats, which it completely commands, with several large guns, that make a very good appearance.

Within this castle are apartments for the governor-general, and all the council of India, to which they are enjoined to repair in case of a siege. Here are also large storehouses where great quant.i.ties of the Company's goods are kept, especially those that are brought from Europe, and where almost all their writers transact their business. In this place also are laid up a great number of cannon, whether to mount upon the walls or furnish s.h.i.+pping, we could not learn; and the Company is said to be well supplied with powder, which is dispersed in various magazines, that if some should be destroyed by lightning, which in this place is very frequent, the rest may escape.[136]

[Footnote 136: The castle is a square fortress, having four bastions connected by curtains, surrounded by a ditch. The walls are about twenty-four feet high, and built also of coral rock. Besides the houses, &c. mentioned in the text and near to what is called the Iron Magazine, is the gra.s.s plot where criminals are executed: It is a square s.p.a.ce, artificially elevated, and furnished with gallows, &c. Close adjoining, and fronting it, is a small building where the magistrates, according to the Dutch custom, attend during the execution.--E.]

Besides the fortifications of the town, numerous forts are dispersed about the country to the distance of twenty or thirty miles; these seem to have been intended merely to keep the natives in awe, and indeed they are fit for nothing else. For the same purpose a kind of houses, each of which mounts about eight guns, are placed in such situations as command the navigation of three or four ca.n.a.ls, and consequently the roads upon their banks: Some of these are in the town itself, and it was from one of these that all the best houses belonging to the Chinese were levelled with the ground in the Chinese rebellion of 1740.[137] These defences are scattered over all parts of Java, and the other islands of which the Dutch have got possession in these seas. Of one of these singular forts, or fortified houses, we should have procured a drawing, if our gentlemen had not been confined by sickness almost all the time they were upon the island.

[Footnote 137: One of the most shocking transactions ever recorded, is here alluded to. It has been often described, for it horrified all Europe, and excited most general disgust at the very name of Dutchmen.

They, however, endeavoured to make the affair look as decent as possible, and when forced to abandon every other claim to favourable interpretation, used at last the tyrant's plea, necessity. Rebellion must be punished, it is admitted; a thousand reasons are in readiness to justify the punishment of it. But, alas! in this case many hundreds were punished who had never been in rebellion, never thought of it, never knew it, were incapable of it. The vengeful spirit of their "High Mightinesses" in Batavia, was glutted to the throat. Butchery could not do her work more thoroughly. Not a drop of blood was left in Chinese veins to circulate disaffection, or boil in the agony of despairing hate. Extermination smiled in the gloom of Death,--merciful in this at least, that she suffered not a heart to remain to curse her triumph. See Modern Universal History, vol. xiv. ch. 7. Our limits will not permit the dreadful recital.--E.]

If the Dutch fortifications here are not formidable in themselves, they become so by their situation; for they are among mora.s.ses where the roads, which are nothing more than a bank thrown up between a ca.n.a.l and a ditch, may easily be destroyed, and consequently the approach of heavy artillery either totally prevented or greatly r.e.t.a.r.ded: For it would be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to transport them in boats, as they all muster every night under the guns of the castle, a situation from which it would be impossible for an enemy to take them. Besides, in this country, delay is death; so that whatever r.e.t.a.r.ds an enemy, will destroy him. In less than a week we were sensible of the unhealthiness of the climate; and in less than a month half the s.h.i.+p's company were unable to do their duty. We were told, that of a hundred soldiers who arrive here from Europe, it was a rare thing for fifty to survive the first year; that of those fifty, half would then be in the hospital, and not ten of the rest in perfect health: Possibly this account may be exaggerated; but the pale and feeble wretches whom we saw crawling about with a musket, which they were scarcely able to carry, inclined us to believe that it was true.[138] Every white inhabitant of the town indeed is a soldier; the younger are constantly mustered, and those who have served five years are liable to be called out when their a.s.sistance is thought to be necessary; but as neither of them are ever exercised, or do any kind of duty, much cannot be expected from them. The Portuguese, indeed, are in general good marksmen, because they employ themselves much in shooting wild-hogs and deer: Neither the Mard.y.k.ers nor the Chinese know the use of fire-arms; but as they are said to be brave, they might do much execution with their own weapons, swords, lances, and daggers. The Mard.y.k.ers are Indians of all nations, who are descended from free ancestors, or have themselves been made free.

[Footnote 138: Mr Barrow does not give a more favourable report.

According to him, no less than three out of five of the new settlers at this place die in the first year of their residence; and he learned from the registers of the military hospital, that though the establishment of troops never exceeded 1500 men, and sometimes was not half this number, yet during sixty-two years the annual deaths amounted to 1258! Of those Europeans who have in some degree got accustomed to the place, he says that rather more than ten in a hundred die yearly; and that scarcely any live beyond the middle stage of life. The natives, as might be expected, suffer less, but even they are exposed to frequent visits of the old enemy. In Mr B.'s opinion, the climate is not so injurious as the circ.u.mstances of the situation, and the pernicious, though convenient, prevalency of ca.n.a.ls, aided, he admits, by the bad habits of the people.--E.]

But if it is difficult to attack Batavia by land, it is utterly impossible to attack it by sea: For the water is so shallow, that it will scarcely admit a long-boat to come within cannon-shot of the walls, except in a narrow channel, called the river, that is walled on both sides by strong piers, and runs about half a mile into the harbour. At the other end, it terminates under the fire of the strongest part of the castle; and here its communication with the ca.n.a.ls that intersect the town is cut off by a large wooden boom, which is shut every night at six o'clock, and upon no pretence opened till the next morning.[139] The harbour of Batavia is accounted the finest in India, and, to all appearance, with good reason; it is large enough to contain any number of s.h.i.+ps, and the ground is so good that one anchor will hold till the cable decays: It never admits any sea that is troublesome, and its only inconvenience is the shoal water between the road and the river. When the sea-breeze blows fresh, it makes a c.o.c.kling sea that is dangerous to boats: Our long-boat once struck two or three times as she was attempting to come out, and regained the river's mouth with some difficulty. A Dutch boat, laden with sails and rigging for one of the Indiamen, was entirely lost.

[Footnote 139: The reader need not be reminded of the facility with which Batavia was lately taken by our gallant countrymen. The accounts of that successful expedition may be advantageously compared with what is here given. This, however, they must do who are interested in the subject. The introduction of it here would be very irrelevant--E.]

Round the harbour, on the outside, lie many islands, which the Dutch have taken possession of, and apply to different uses.[140] To one of them, called Edam, they transport all Europeans who have been guilty of crimes that are not worthy of death: Some are sentenced to remain there ninety-nine years, some forty, some twenty, some less, down to five, in proportion to their offence; and during their banishment, they are employed as slaves in making ropes, and other drudgery.[141] In another island, called Purmerent, they have an hospital, where people are said to recover much faster than at Batavia.[142] In a third, called Kuyper, they have warehouses belonging to the Company, chiefly for rice, and other merchandise of small value; and here the foreign s.h.i.+ps, that are to be laid down at Onrnst, another of these islands, which with Kuyper has been mentioned before, discharge their cargoes at wharfs which are very convenient for the purpose.[143] Here the guns, sails, and other stores of the Falmouth, a man-of-war which was condemned at this place when she was returning from Manilla, were deposited, and the s.h.i.+p herself remained in the harbour, with only the warrant officers on board, for many years. Remittances were regularly made them from home; but no notice was ever taken of the many memorials they sent, desiring to be recalled. Happily for them, the Dutch thought fit, about six months before our arrival, to sell the vessel and all her stores, by public auction, and send the officers home in their own s.h.i.+ps. At Onrust, they repair all their own s.h.i.+pping, and keep a large quant.i.ty of naval stores.

[Footnote 140: There are fifteen islands in all, but only four of them are used by the Company; and of these, Onrust is the chief. This is about three leagues north-west from the city, and is fortified, as commanding the channel. It is very small, but there are several warehouses and other buildings on it.--E.]

[Footnote 141: Edam is three leagues north-north-east from the city. It abounds in wood, and is remarkable for a large tree of the fig kind, which is an object of high veneration among the superst.i.tious Javanese.--E.]

[Footnote 142: Purmerent is to the eastward of Onrust, and is half as large again as that island. It is planted with trees. The hospital on it is maintained by the voluntary alms of both the natives and Europeans.--E.]

[Footnote 143: Kuyper, or Cooper's Isle, is considerably less than Onrust, and lies very near it. Several large tamarind trees yield it an agreeable shade. It has two pier-heads at its south side, where s.h.i.+ps take in and discharge their freight.--E.]

The country round Batavia is for some miles a continued range of country houses and gardens. Many of the gardens are very large, and by some strange fatality, all are planted with trees almost as thick as they can stand; so that the country derives no advantage from its being cleared of the wood that originally covered it, except the fruit of that which has been planted in its room. These impenetrable forests stand in a dead flat, which extends some miles beyond them, and is intersected in many directions by rivers, and more still by ca.n.a.ls, which are navigable for small vessels. Nor is this the worst, for the fence of every field and garden is a ditch; and interspersed among the cultivated ground there are many filthy fens, bogs, and mora.s.ses, as well fresh as salt.

It is not strange that the inhabitants of such a country should be familiar with disease and death: Preventative medicines are taken almost as regularly as food; and every body expects the returns of sickness, as we do the seasons of the year. We did not see a single 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 ca.n.a.ls 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 Pa.s.sar 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 princ.i.p.al people have country houses, which they visit once a-year; and one was begun for the governor, upon the plan of Blenheim, the famous seat of the Duke of Marlborough in Oxfords.h.i.+re, but it has never been finished. To these hills also people are sent by the physicians for the recovery of their health, and the effects of the air are said to be almost miraculous: The patient grows well in a short time, but constantly relapses soon after his return to Batavia.[145]

[Footnote 145: On approaching the mountains towards the southern parts of the island, the heat of the air gradually diminishes, till at last, especially in the morning and evening, it is absolutely cold, and cannot be endured without the aid of such clothing as is used in winter in other countries. How materially the proper use of such a change of climate may operate to the restoration of health, can be easily imagined by any one who has felt the different effects of deleterious heat and invigorating cold. The island of Jamaica presents something very similar to what is now related of the different climates in the vicinity of Batavia.--E.]

But the same situation and circ.u.mstances which render Batavia and the country round it unwholesome, render it the best gardener's ground in the world. The soil is fruitful beyond imagination, and the conveniences and luxuries of life that it produces are almost without number.