The better sort of the Javanese, who are in authority, are great takers of bribes; and all of them are bad payers when trusted, although their laws for debt are so strict, that the creditor may take his debtor, wives, children, slaves, and all that he hath, and sell them in satisfaction of the debt. They are all much given to stealing, from the highest to the lowest; and surely they were, in times past, canibals or man-eaters, before they had trade with the Chinese, which some say is not above a hundred years ago. They delight much in indolent ease and in music, and for the most part spend the day sitting cross-legged like tailors, cutting a piece of stick, by which many of them become good carvers, and carve their criss handles very neatly; which is all the work that most of them perform. They are great eaters; but the gentry allow nothing to their slaves except rice sodden in water, with some roots and herbs. They have also an herb called _betel_, which they carry with them wherever they go; in boxes, or wrapped up in a cloth like a sugar-loaf; and also a nut called _pinang_,[123] which are both very hot-tasted, and which they chew continually to warm them within, and to keep away the flux. They also use much tobacco, and take opium. The Javanese are a very dull and blockish people, very unfit for managing the affairs of a commonwealth, so that all strangers who come to their land get beyond them; and many who come here to dwell from the country of _Clyn_, grow very rich, and rise to high offices, as the _sabander, laytamongon_, and others. The Chinese especially, who live crouching under them like Jews, rob them of their wealth, and send it to China. [Footnote 123: Probably that called _areka_ on the continent of India; the areka and betel being chewed together, along with powdered chunam, or shell-lime.--E.]