Joseph Banks's Descriptions of Places, Batavia, page 416

Page 416

Joseph Banks's Descriptions of Places

Batavia

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Batavia (continued)

gardens and selling fruits and flowers; Betele and Arec, calld here Siri and Pinang, is all grown by them, of which an immense qua[n]tity is chewd by Portugese, Chinese and Slams, slaves and free men. The lime that they use here is however slackd, by which means their teeth are not eat up in the same manner as the Savoo people, who use it unslackd; they mix with it also a substance calld Gambir which is brought from the Continent of India, and the better sort of women use with their chew many sorts of perfumes, as cardamoms &c. &c. to give the breath an agreable smell. Many also get a livelihood by fishing and carrying goods upon the water &c. &c; some however there are who are very rich and live splendidly in their own way, which consists almost intirely in a number of Slaves.

In the article of food no people can be more Abstemious than they are. Boild rice is of Rich as well as poor the principal part of the subsistence, this with a small proportion of fish, Buffaloe or fowl, and sometimes dryd fish and dry shrimps brought here from China, is the cheif of their food; every thing however must be

Voyaging Accounts

© Derived from State Library of NSW Transcription of Banks's Journal page (vol. 2) 490, February 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/-banks_remarks-416.html