Page:Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks.djvu/435



, the capital of the Dutch dominions in India, and generally esteemed to be by much the finest town in the possession of Europeans in these parts, is situated in a low fenny plain, where several small rivers, which take their rise in mountains called Blaen Berg, about forty miles inland, empty themselves into the sea. The Dutch (always true to their commercial interests) seemed to have pitched upon this situation entirely for the convenience of water-carriage, which indeed few, if any, towns in Europe enjoy in a higher degree. Few streets in the town are without canals of considerable breadth, running through or rather stagnating in them. These canals are continued for several miles round the town, and with five or six rivers, some of which are navigable thirty or forty or more miles inland, make the carriage of every species of produce inconceivably cheap.

It is very difficult to judge of the size of the town: the size of the houses, in general large, and the breadth of the