Joseph Banks's Descriptions of Places, Batavia, page 435

Page 435

Joseph Banks's Descriptions of Places

Batavia

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Batavia (continued)

they are calld, who administer Justice among them in Civil cases, liable to an appeal to the Dutch court, which however rarely happens. Before the Chinese Rebellion as the Dutch, or Massacre as the Chinese themselves and most Europeans Call it, in 1740, when the Dutch upon may be too slight an information massacred no man knows how many thousand Chinese unresisting, for a supposd rebellion, which they to this day declare to have been never so much as thought of by them, the Chinese had two or three of their body in the Council and many more priviledges than now; nor have they from that time to this by any means recoverd either their former Oppulence or numbers, every one now who has got any thing considerable chusing to retire with it either to China, or any where, rather than remain in the power of a people who have behavd so ill to them.

The taxes paid by these people to the Company are very considerable, among which that commonly said to be paid for the liberty of wearing their hair is not inconsiderable; it is however no other than a kind of head money

Voyaging Accounts

© Derived from State Library of NSW Transcription of Banks's Journal page (vol. 2) 509, February 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/-banks_remarks-435.html