nearly noon
Unhealthy as the country undoubtedly is , the city itself is far worse , so that , as a place of residence , it is almost abandoned by the more wealthy merchants , who only visit it as a place of business -- their fine mansions being turned into stores or counting-houses . Europeans at Batavia , of whatever nation , live much in the same way . They rise at daybreak , and sit for some time cooling themselves in the thinnest dress in which they have passed the night ; then they dress , and breakfast on coffee or tea , and are at their offices at eight . They work till nearly noon , when they dine , and take a nap till four , when they again attend to business till six . Afterwards they drive out , or mix in social intercourse in an informal way till nine , when they sup , and retire to bed at eleven . Newman , whose means of observation were greater than mine , told me that the men had their parties together , and the ladies theirs , which I should consider a very bad arrangement . The men of higher rank -- the upper merchants -- are each attended by a slave , holding an umbrella behind him ; but a junior merchant must carry his umbrella himself .