Note (return) — Chapter XIII · VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD, BY COMMODORE ROGGEWEIN, is 1721-1723.1 (continued 2)

Most of the inhabitants of this country are tall black robust men, of gay and lively dispositions. In point of religion, many of them are idolaters, more of them Mahometans,2 and some of them Christians. The idolaters are split into numerous sects, some of whom believe firmly in the metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls; for which reason they will not take away the life of any living creature, not even daring to kill a fly or a flea. They have even hospitals for worn-out oxen and old cows, where they are fed and attended till they die of age or disease. These people are in general very industrious, but covetous, false, and perfidious. They employ themselves, such as reside in towns, in the manufactures of silk and cotton; and those who live in the country are very diligent cultivators, so that they annually expect from hence vast quantities of grain to Batavia.