276 ACCOUNT OF CELEBES , AMBOYNA, &C.

The town Itfelf, without the adjacent negrees, which may be confidered as fuburbs*forms an oblong, irregular fquare, bounded by the Bato gadja, or Elephant’s river, 011one fide, and the Way tomo on the other. According to the plan of the town madeand delineated in the year 17x8, fince which time no material alterations have beenmade in it, its length is full three hundred roods, from north-eaft to fouth-weft, and itsbreadth full one hundred, from the bay, fouth-eaftward.

The interfe&ions, called ftreets, crofs each other at right angles; many of them arepretty wide, but none of them are paved.

Of the public buildings, the Dutch and Malay churches were both much damagedand nearly deftroyed by the violent earthquake of the year 1755 ; the former in fo far,that it was forced to be wholly pulled down, in order to be entirely rebuilt: in thiswork, however, little progrefs had been made, when I was there, and fervice was,in the mean time, performed under a fhed, built of gabbe-gabbas, and covered withatap: the Malay church was fplit in fuch a manner from top to bottom, that for manyyears it has not been feafible to perform any fervice in it, which is now done on Sun-day afternoon in the fhed appointed to ferve as a fubftitute for the Dutch church.

The ftadhoufe, or town-hall is likewife an old and ruinous building; behind it is alarge fquare area, round which are many little apartments, which ferve for places ofconfinement for prifoners.

The hofpital hands juft out of the town, on the other fide of the Way tomo. Itwas entirely rebuilt a few years ago. Near it is a houfe appointed for the refidenceof the fuperintendant of the hofpital. This hofpital is one of the beft, and fittefl forthe purpofe, belonging to our Company, which I have feen in India : the building is avery good one, the fick are well treated in it; and by the excellent attention of theprefent fuperintendant, Mr. Hengeveld, they are kept extremely clean and neat.

The houfe of the governor, which was formerly the Company’s cloth warehoufe,and is ftill known by that name in their books, has not much to recommend it j itsappearance is mean, and there are few, and thofe very indifferent,, rooms in it.

The houfes are, in general, of one flory, many of them are built of wood, and al-mofl all are covered with atap ; this mode of building is adopted becaufe of the dread-ful and frequent earthquakes to which this country is fubjedf. The houfes are com-modious enough, according to the cuftom of the country, but have not a very elegantappearance. Inftead of glafs, frames of matted cane are ufed for the fake of air, andlikewife, I believe, not a little in order to fave expence. Molt of them have littlegardens, or large fquare yards behind them, in which there is commonly a well ofvery good water.

Springs are very numerous here : going only along the fhores of the bay, and fcoop-ing, where there is the leaf! bit of beach, a little hole with one’s hand in the fand, it isimmediately filled with fweet frefh water, and that even fometimes at no greater dis-tance than five or fix feet from the fait water. This owes its caufe, in all probability,to the nature of the foil, which is every where porous and fandy, and imbibes the rainalmoft as foon as it has fallen. I have feen that in moft places, after the mod inceflantand violent rains, which lafted three days, and raifed torrents of water rufhing throughthe town, there have been no vifible marks left, at the end of only two hours, of itshaving rained at all; and I was allured that it was exactly the fame cafe, when therains continued for three or four weeks, as frequently happened during the badmonfoons.

The rivers which run along or through the town, or the adjacent negrees, are theBato gadja, or Elephant’s river; the Way tomo, which runs between the town to the

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