Fresh Water and wood for fuel must be purchas’d here, the water is put on board the Ships in the Road at the ratea Spanish Dollar or 5 Shillings a Leager containg 150 Gallons but if sent to Onrust, which is one league from the Road, it cost a Duckatoon or Six Shillings & Eight pence. The supplying Shipping with water, especially Foreigners is a perquisite of the Commodore who is always an officer in the states service, but acts here under the Company. He takes care to tell you that the water is very good and will keep sweet at Sea whereas every boddy else tells you that it is not so, be this as it will Batavia is certainly a place that Europeans need not covet to go to, but if necessity obliges them they will do well to make their stay as short a[s] possible otherwise they will soon feel the effects of thate unwholsome air of Batavia which I firmly beleive is the death of more Europeans than any other place upon the Globe of the same extent, such at least is my opinion of it which is founded on facts. We came in here with as healthy a ships company as need [go] to Sea and after a stay of not quite 3 Months lift it in the condition of an Hospital Ship besides the loss of 7 Men and yet all the Dutch Captains I had an oppertunity to convers with said that we had been very lucky and wondered that we had not lost half our people in that time

Voyaging Accounts