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James Cook's Journal Ms 1, National Library of Australia
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Account of the Inhabitants of Batavia
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Another numerous class among the inhabitants of this country is the slaves; for by slaves the Dutch, Portuguese, and Indians, however different in their rank or situation, are constantly attended: they are purchased from Sumatra, Malacca, and almost all the eastern islands. The natives of Java, very few of whom, as I have before observed, live in the neighbourhood of Batavia, have an exemption from slavery under the sanction of very severe penal laws, which I believe are seldom violated. The price of these slaves is from ten to twenty pounds sterling; but girls, if they have beauty, sometimes fetch a hundred. They are a very lazy set of people; but as they will do but little work, they are content with a little victuals, subsisting altogether upon boiled rice, and a small quantity of the cheapest fish. As they are natives of different countries, they differ from each other extremely, both in person and disposition. The African negroes, called here Papua, are the worst, and consequently may be purchased for the least money: they are all thieves, and all incorrigible. Next to these are the Bougis and Macassars, both from the island of Celebes; these are lazy in the highest degree, and though not so much addicted to theft as the negroes, have a cruel and vindictive spirit, which renders them extremely dangerous; especially as, to gratify their resentment, they will make no scruple of sacrificing life. The best slaves, and consequently the dearest, are procured from the island of Bali: the most beautiful women from Nias, a small island on the coast of Sumatra; but they are of a tender and delicate constitution, and soon fall a sacrifice to the unwholesome air of Batavia. Besides these, there are Malays, and slaves of several other denominations, whose particular charactristics I do not remember.
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© Derived from Vols. II-III of the London 1773 edition: National Library of Australia call no. FERG 7243, pages 762 - 763, 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/hv23/762.html