A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Xiii Part 25

Rice, which is well known to be the corn of these countries, and to serve the inhabitants instead of bread, grows in great plenty; and I must here observe, that in the hilly parts of Java, and in many of the eastern islands, a species of this grain is planted, which in the western parts of India is entirely unknown. It is called by the natives _Paddy Gunung_, or Mountain Rice: This, contrary to the other sort, which must be under water three parts in four of the time of its growth, is planted upon the sides of hills where no water but rain can come: It is however planted at the beginning of the rainy season, and reaped in the beginning of the dry. How far this kind of rice might be useful in our West-Indian islands, where no bread corn is grown, it may perhaps be worth while to enquire.[146]

[Footnote 146: The island of Java produces rice, which is the princ.i.p.al food of millions, in such quant.i.ties, as to have obtained the t.i.tle of the granary of the East. Nearly three thousand cwt., it is said, were furnished by it in the year 1767, for the use of Batavia, Ceylon, and Banda. It is sown in low ground generally, and after it has got a little above the ground, is transplanted in small bundles, in rows, each bundle having about six plants. The waters of the rivulets, &c. are then allowed to flow on it till the stalk has attained due strength, when the land is drained. When ripe, the fields of rice have an appearance like wheat and barley. It is cut down by a small knife, about a foot under the ear. In place of being threshed, the seed is separated from the husk by stamping with wooden blocks.--E.]

Indian corn, or maize, is also produced here, which the inhabitants gather when young, and toast in the ear. Here is also a great variety of kidney-beans, and lentiles which they call _Cadjang_, and which make a considerable part of the food of the common people; besides millet, yams both wet and dry, sweet potatoes, and European potatoes, which are very good, but not cultivated in great plenty. In the gardens, there are cabbages, lettuces, cuc.u.mbers, radishes, the white radishes of China, which boil almost as well as a turnip; carrots, parsley, celery, pigeon peas, the egg plant, which, broiled and eaten with pepper and salt, is very delicious; a kind of greens resembling spinnage; onions, very small, but excellent; and asparagus: Besides some European plants of a strong smell, particularly sage, hysop, and rue. Sugar is also produced here in immense quant.i.ties; very great crops of the finest and largest canes that can be imagined are produced with very little care, and yield a much larger proportion of sugar than the canes in the West Indies.

White sugar is sold here at two-pence half-penny a pound; and the mola.s.ses makes the arrack, of which, as of rum, it is the chief ingredient; a small quant.i.ty of rice, and some cocoa-nut wine, being added, chiefly, I suppose, to give it flavour. A small quant.i.ty of indigo is also produced here, not as an article of trade, but merely for home consumption.[147]

[Footnote 147: Pepper, sugar, and coffee, are produced in very considerable quant.i.ties, especially the first, which has been reckoned one of the chief commodities of the place. As to sugar, one may have some notion of the quant.i.ty yielded, by a circ.u.mstance noticed by Stavorinus in his account. He says that thirteen millions of pounds were manufactured, in 1765, in the province of Jaccatra alone. Much of it used to be sent to the west of India, and a considerable part found its way to Europe before the derangement, or rather annihilation of the Dutch trade, by the effects of the revolutionary wars.--E.]

But the most abundant article of vegetable luxury here, is the fruit; of which there is no less than six-and-thirty different kinds, and I shall give a very brief account of each.

1. The pine-apple; _Bromelia Ananas_. This fruit, which is here called _Nanas_, grows very large, and in such plenty that they may sometimes be bought at the first hand for a farthing a-piece; and at the common fruit-shops we got three of them for two-pence half-penny. They are very juicy and well flavoured; but we all agreed that we had eaten as good from a hot-house in England: They are however so luxuriant in their growth that most of them have two or three crowns, and a great number of suckers from the bottom of the fruit; of these Mr Banks once counted nine, and they are so forward that very often while they still adhered to the parent plant they shot out their fruit, which, by the time the large one became ripe, were of no inconsiderable size. We several times saw three upon one apple, and were told that a plant once produced a cl.u.s.ter of nine, besides the princ.i.p.al: This indeed was considered as so great a curiosity, that it was preserved in sugar, and sent to the Prince of Orange.

2. Sweet oranges. These are very good, but while we were here, sold for six-pence a piece.

3. Pumplemoeses, which in the West Indies are called Shaddocks. These were well flavoured, but not juicy; their want of juice, however, was an accidental effect of the season.

4. Lemons. These were very scarce; but the want of them was amply compensated by the plenty of limes.

5. Limes. These were excellent, and to be bought at about twelve-pence a hundred. We saw only two or three Seville oranges, which were almost all rind; and there are many sorts, both of oranges and lemons, which I shall not particularly mention, because they are neither esteemed by Europeans nor the natives themselves.

6. Mangos. This fruit during our stay was so infested with maggots, which bred in the inside of them, that scarcely one in three was eatable; and the best of them were much inferior to those of Brazil: They are generally compared by Europeans to a melting peach, which indeed they resemble in softness and sweetness, but certainly fall much short in flavour. The climate here, we were told, is too hot and damp for them; but there are as many sorts of them as there are of apples in England, and some are much superior to others. One sort, which is called _Mangha Cowani_, has so strong a smell that a European can scarcely bear one in the room. These, however, the natives are fond of. The three sorts which are generally preferred, are the _Mangha Doodool_, the _Mangha Santock_, and the _Mangha Gure_.

7. Bananas. Of these also there are innumerable sorts, but three only are good; the _p.i.s.sang Mas_, the _p.i.s.sang Radja_, and the _p.i.s.sang Ambou_: All these have a pleasant vinous taste, and the rest are useful in different ways; some are fried in batter, and others are boiled and eaten as bread. There is one which deserves the particular notice of the botanist, because, contrary to the nature of its tribe, it is full of seeds, and is therefore called _p.i.s.sang Batu_, or _p.i.s.sang Bidjie_; it his however no excellence to recommend it to the taste, but the Malays use it as a remedy for the flux.

8. Grapes. These are not in great perfection, but they are very dear; for we could not buy a moderate bunch for less than a s.h.i.+lling or eighteen-pence.

9. Tamarinds. These are in great plenty, and very cheap: The people, however, do not put them up in the manner practised by the West Indians, but cure them with salt, by which means they become a black ma.s.s, so disagreeable to the sight and taste, that few Europeans chuse to meddle with them.

10. Water melons. These are in great plenty, and very good.

11. Pumpkins. These are beyond comparison the most useful fruit that can be carried to sea; for they will keep without any care several months, and with sugar and lemon-juice, make a pye that can scarcely be distinguished from one made of the best of apples; and with pepper and salt, they are a subst.i.tute for turnips, not to be despised.

12 Papaws. This fruit when it is ripe is full of seeds, and almost without flavour; but if when it is green it is pared, and the core taken out, it is better than the best turnip.

13. Guava. This fruit is much commended by the inhabitants of our islands in the West Indies, who probably have a better sort than we met with here, where the smell of them was so disagreeably strong that it made some of us sick; those who tasted them said, that the flavour was equally rank.

14. Sweet sop. The _Annona Squammosa_ of Linnaeus. This is also a West-Indian fruit: It consists only of a ma.s.s of large kernels, from which a small proportion of pulp may be sucked, which is very sweet, but has little flavour.

15. Custard apple. The _Annona Reticulata_ of Linnaeus. The quality of this fruit is well expressed by its English name, which it acquired in the West Indies; for it is as like a custard, and a good one too, as can be imagined.

16. The cashew apple. This is seldom eaten on account of its astringency. The nut that grows upon the top of it is well known in Europe.

17. The cocoa-nut. This is also well known in Europe: There are several sorts, but the best of those we found here is called _Calappi Edjou_, and is easily known by the redness of the flesh between the skin and the sh.e.l.l.

18. Mangostan. The _Garcinia Mangostana_ of Linnaeus. This fruit, which is peculiar to the East Indies, is about the size of the crab apple, and of a deep red-wine colour: On the top of it is the figure of five or six small triangles joined in a circle, and at the bottom several hollow green leaves, which are remains of the blossom. When they are to be eaten, the skin, or rather flesh, must be taken off, under which are found six or seven white kernels, placed in a circular order, and the pulp with which these are enveloped, is the fruit, than which nothing can be more delicious: It is a happy mixture of the tart and the sweet, which is no less wholesome than pleasant; and with the sweet orange, this fruit is allowed in any quant.i.ty to those who are afflicted with fevers, either of the putrid or inflammatory kind.

19. The jamboo. The _Eugenia Mallaccensis_ of Linnaeus. This fruit is of a deep red colour, and an oval shape; the largest, which are always the best, are not bigger than a small apple; they are pleasant and cooling, though they have not much flavour.

20. The jambu-eyer. A species of the _Eugenia_ of Linnaeus. Of this fruit there are two sorts of a similar shape, resembling a bell, but differing in colour; one being red, the other white. They somewhat exceed a large cherry in size, and in taste have neither flavour nor even sweetness, containing nothing but a watery juice, slightly acidulated; yet their coolness recommends them in this hot country.

21. Jambu-eyer mauwar. The _Eugenia Jambos_ of Linnaeus. This is more grateful to the smell than the taste: In taste it resembles the conserve of roses, and in smell the fresh scent of those flowers.

22. The pomegranate. This is the same fruit that is known by the same name all over Europe.

23. Durion. A fruit that in shape resembles a small melon, but the skin is covered with sharp conical spines, whence its name; for _dure_, in the Malay language, signifies p.r.i.c.kle. When it is ripe, it divides longitudinally into seven or eight compartments, each of which contains six or seven nuts, not quite so large as chesnuts, which are covered with a substance that in colour and consistence very much resembles thick cream: This is the part that is eaten, and the natives are fond of it to excess. To Europeans it is generally disagreeable at first; for in taste it somewhat resembles a mixture of cream, sugar, and onions; and in the smell, the onions predominate.

24. Nanca. This fruit, which in some parts of India is called Jakes, has, like the Durion, a smell very disagreeable to strangers, and somewhat resembling that of mellow apples mixed with garlic: The flavour is not more adapted to the general taste. In some countries that are favourable to it, it is said to grow to an immense size. Rumphius relates, that it is sometimes so large that a man cannot easily lift it; and we were told by a Malay, that at Madura it is sometimes so large as not to be carried but by the united efforts of two men. At Batavia, however, they never exceed the size of a large melon, which in shape they very much resemble: They are covered with angular p.r.i.c.kles, like the shootings of some crystals, which however are not hard enough to wound those who handle them.

25. Champada. This differs from the Nanca in little except size, it not being so big. .

26. Rambutan. This is a fruit little known to Europeans. In appearance it very much resembles a chesnut with the husk on, and like that, is covered with small points, which are soft, and of a deep red colour: Under this skin is the fruit, and within the fruit a stone; the eatable part thereof is small in quant.i.ty, but its acid is perhaps more agreeable than any other in the whole vegetable kingdom.

27. Jambolan. This, in size and appearance, is not unlike a damascene; but in taste is still more astringent, and therefore less agreeable.

28. The Boa Bidarra, or _Rhamnus Jujuba_ of Linnaeus. This is a round yellow fruit, about the size of a gooseberry; its flavour is like that of an apple, but it has the astringency of a crab.

29. Nam nam. The _Cynometra Cauliflora_ of Linnaeus. This fruit in shape somewhat resembles a kidney; it is about three inches long, and the outside is very rough: It is seldom eaten raw, but fried with batter it makes a good fritter.

30, 31. The Catappa, or _Terminalia Catappa_; and the Canare, the _Canarium Commune_ of Linnaeus, are both nuts, with kernels somewhat resembling an almond; but the difficulty of breaking the sh.e.l.l is so great, that they are no where publicly sold. Those which we tasted were gathered for curiosity by Mr Banks from the tree upon which they grew.

32. The Madja, or _Limoni_ of Linnaeus, contains, under a hard brittle sh.e.l.l, a lightly acid pulp, which cannot be eaten without sugar; and with it, is not generally thought pleasant.

33. Suntul. The _Trichilia_ of Linnaeus. This is the worst of all the fruits that I shall particularly mention: In size and shape it resembles the Madja, and within a thick skin contains kernels like those of the Mangostan, the taste of which is both acid and astringent, and so disagreeable, that we were surprised to see it exposed upon the fruit-stalls.

34, 35, 36. The Blimbing, or _Averrhoa Belimbi_; the Blimbing Besse, or _Averrhoa Carambola_; and the Cherrema, or _Averrhoa Acida_ of Linnaeus, are three species of one genus; and though they differ in shape, are nearly of the same taste. The Blimbing Besse is the sweetest: the other two are so austerely acid, that they cannot be used without dressing; they make, however, excellent pickles and sour sauce.

37. The Salack, or _Calamus Rotang Zalacca_ of Linnaeus. This is the fruit of a p.r.i.c.kly bush; it is about as big as a walnut, and covered with scales, like those of a lizard: Below the scales are two or three yellow kernels, in flavour somewhat resembling a strawberry.

Besides these, the island of Java, and particularly the country round Batavia, produces many kinds of fruit which were not in season during our stay: We were also told that apples, strawberries, and many other fruits from Europe, had been planted up in the mountains, and flourished there in great luxuriance. We saw several fruits preserved in sugar, that we did not see recent from the tree, one of which is called _Kimkit_, and another _Boa Atap_: And here are several others which are eaten only by the natives, particularly the _Kellor_, the _Guilindina_, the _Moringa_, and the _Socc.u.m_. The Socc.u.m is of the same kind with the breadfruit in the South-Sea islands, but so much inferior, that if it had not been for the similitude in the outward appearance both of the fruit and the tree, we should not have referred it to that cla.s.s. These and some others do not merit to be particularly mentioned.

The quant.i.ty of fruit that is consumed at Batavia is incredible; but that which is publicly exposed to sale is generally over-ripe. A stranger, however, may get good fruit in a street called Pa.s.sar p.i.s.sang, which lies north from the great church, and very near it. This street is inhabited by none but Chinese fruit-sellers, who are supplied from the gardens of gentlemen in the neighbourhood of the town with such as is fresh, and excellent in its kind, for which, however, they must be paid more than four times the market price.

The town in general is supplied from a considerable distance, where great quant.i.ties of land are cultivated merely for the production of fruit. The country people, to whom these lands belong, meet the people of the town at two great markets; one on Monday, called Pa.s.sar Sineeu, and the other on Sat.u.r.day, called Pa.s.sar Tanabank. These fairs are held at places considerably distant from each other, for the convenience of different districts; neither of them, however, are more than five miles distant from Batavia. At these fairs, the best fruit may be bought at the cheapest rate, and the sight of them to a European is very entertaining. The quant.i.ty of fruit is astonis.h.i.+ng; forty or fifty cart-loads of the finest pine-apples, packed as carelessly as turnips in England, are common, and other fruit in the same profusion. The days, however, on which these markets are held are ill contrived; the time between Sat.u.r.day and Monday is too short, and that between Monday and Sat.u.r.day too long: Great part of what is bought on Monday is always much the worse for keeping before a new stock can be bought, either by the retailer or consumer; so that for several days in every week there is no good fruit in the hands of any people but the Chinese in Pa.s.sar p.i.s.sang.

The inhabitants of this part of India practise a luxury which seems to be but little attended to in other countries; they are continually burning aromatic woods and resins, and scatter odours round them in a profusion of flowers, possibly as an antidote to the noisome effluvia of their ditches and ca.n.a.ls. Of sweet-smelling flowers they have a great variety, altogether unknown in Europe, the chief of which I shall briefly describe.

1. The _Champacka_, or _Michelia Champacca_. This grows upon a tree as large as an apple-tree, and consists of fifteen long narrow petala, which give it the appearance of being double, though in reality it is not so: Its colour is yellow, and much deeper than that of a jonquil, to which it has some resemblance in smell.

2. The _Cananga_, or _Uvaria Cananga_, is a green flower, not at all resembling the blossom of any tree or plant in Europe: It has indeed more the appearance of a bunch of leaves than a flower; its scent is agreeable, but altogether peculiar to itself.

3. The _Mulatti_, or _Nyctanthes Sambac_. This is well known in English hot-houses by the name of Arabian jessamine: It grows here in the greatest profusion, and its fragrance, like that of all other Indian flowers, though exquisitely pleasing, has not that overpowering strength which distinguishes some of the same sorts in Europe.

4, 5. The _Combang Caracna.s.si_, and _Combang Tonquin, Percularia Glabro_. These are small flowers, of the dog's-bane kind, very much resembling each other in shape and smell, highly fragrant, but very different from every product of an English garden.

6. The _Bonga Tanjong_, or _Mimusops Elengi_ of Linnaeus. This flower is shaped like a star of seven or eight rays, and is about half an inch in diameter: It is of a yellowish colour, and has an agreeable smell.

Besides these, there is the _Sundal Malam_, or _Polianthes Tuberosa_.

This flower, being the same with our own tuberose, can have no place among those that are unknown in Europe; but I mention it for its Malay name, which signifies "Intriguer of the night," and is not inelegantly conceived. The heat of this climate is so great, that few flowers exhale their sweets in the day; and this in particular, from its total want of scent at that time, and the modesty of its colour, which is white, seems negligent of attracting admirers, but as soon as night comes on, it diffuses its fragrance, and at once compels the attention, and excites the complacency, of all who approach it.