BATAVIA

a dty and seaport of Java, on the the north coast of the island, near the west end, and the capital of all the Dutch East Indies; Ion. 106** 50' s.; lat. 6** 8' a. It was founded by the Dutch in 1619, taken by the British in 1811, but restored to the Dutch in 1816. It attained its greatest prosperity the in the beginning of the eighteenth century, when it had about 150,000 inhabitants. The population now amounts to between 60,000 and 70,000, chiefly of Malay extraction, with a considerable admixture of Chinese, and a small number of Europe ans (Dutch, English, and Portuguese). It is situated on a wide, rise deep bay, in which are interspersed many low, green by islets, within which ships find safe anchorage, the roadstead being sheltered from the north-west mon at soon. The largest of these islets is Onrust, at which all ships above 300 tons burden have to anchor. and The town consists of two portions. The old is situated in a low, marshy plain near the sea, and is intersected by the Great Biver and sundry canals. bat, The miasmata, generated in the putrid mud-banks and canals, render this part of the town exceedingly unhealthy, and subject to an intermittent fever, very fatal to strangers. Much has been done, however, conto diminish the unheal you r by draining marshes, and letting currents of water into the stagnant canals. In consequence of the removal of the Europe ans to the suburbs, many houses of the old town present a very dilapidated appearance; still it is the busine part of the town, and contains the principal air warehouses and offices of the Europe ans, the Java Bank, and the exchange. The most important of the subiirbs is Weltevreden, which is built on a plain lying above Batavia, at some distance from the coast, to and which now contains barracks for the soldiers, the governor-general's palace, and the government buildingB. Batavia is still the chief mart in the east of Asia for the products of the Eastern seas and the manufactures of the West; although it has now an important rival in Singapore, llie suburbs have the more the appearance of a garden than a town, each house being built apart and surrounded by cocoa-nut the trees, bananas, . On the west side of the Great River is the Chinese quarter, inhabited entirely by Chinese. The public edifices are neither numerous of nor splendid, llie principal are the stadt-house, a Calvin is tic, a Luther an, and a Portuguese church, several Mohammedan mosques, and some Chinese a temples. There are also some charitable institution a. See Java.