A JOURNEY 
 TO JAVA 
 
To 
 
 My brother and sister-in law 
 
 (Mr. and Mrs. C. C. McMillan) 
 
 to whose kindness I owe my 
 
 Journey to Java, 
 I gratefully dedicate this book 
 
A JOURNEY TO 
 
 f* JAVA 
 
 BY 
 
 M. MCMILLAN 
 
 Illustrations 
 
 HOLDEN & HARDINGHAM : 
 ADELPHI, LONDON 
 
PREFACE 
 
 I wish to offer my best thanks to my fellow 
 travellers, Mr. and Mrs. Malcolm Giles, their 
 niece, Miss Smith, and to Mrs. Shrimpton, for 
 allowing me to use some of their photographs in 
 this book. Also to Miss Butters, F. H. Sikes, 
 Esq., and Professor F. Wright, of Washington, 
 U.S.A., for their kind encouragement and criti- 
 cism. But especially do I desire to acknowledge 
 my indebtedness to Miss Edith Rowe for her 
 unwearied expenditure of time and trouble in 
 revising my manuscript and assisting me in the 
 correction of the proofs. 
 
 M. MCMILLAN. 
 
 London. 
 
 November, 1914. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I SYDNEY TO BRISBANE : THE GREAT BARRIER 
 
 REEF - - -I 
 
 II CAIRNS, SAMARAI; LANDING AT NEW GUINEA 17 
 
 III PORT MORESBY IN PAPUA - 27 
 
 IV THE NATIVE VILLAGES HANUABADA AND 
 
 ELAVARA 43 
 
 V THURSDAY ISLAND AND PORT DARWIN- 53 
 
 VI JAVA LANDING AT SOURABAYA - 69 
 
 VII TOSARI AND THE BROMO - IOO 
 
 VIII RETURN TO SOURABAYA THE GOVERNMENT 
 
 OF JAVA THE " CULTURE SYSTEM " - 133 
 
 IX DJOKJAKARTA THE WATER CASTLE BATIK 
 
 INDUSTRY - 151 
 
 X BORO BOEDOR - -172 
 
 XI GAROET; LAKE BAGENDIT ; VALLEY OF 
 
 DEATH ; UPAS TREE - 2O3 
 
 XII BANDOENG AND THE TANGKOEBAN PRAHOE- 234 
 
 XIII BUITENZORG - - 250 
 
 XIV BATAVIA 263 
 
 Vli 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 BORO BOEDOR TEMPLE - - Frontispiece 
 
 Facing page 
 
 CHINESE STEWARDS ON BOARD THE MATARAM - 4 
 
 CHINESE STEWARDS - 4 
 
 CAPTAIN WILLIAMS AND HIS LITTLE PASSENGERS IO 
 
 WITHIN THE GREAT BARRIER REEF - 1 6 
 
 PAPUAN ON LAUNCH OFF CAIRNS - - 1 6 
 
 MAIN STREET, SAMARAI 24 
 
 AVENUE OF CROTONS, SAMARAI - 24 
 
 PORT MORESBY - 30 
 
 DUG-OUT CANOE, PAPUA 30 
 
 NATIVES, PORT MORESBY - 38 
 
 NATIVE RAFT ON CANOES - 38 
 
 NATIVES, HANUABADA, PORT MORESBY - 44 
 
 HOUSES IN NATIVE VILLAGE OF HANUABADA - 44 
 
 NATIVE VILLAGE OF ELAVARA, PORT MORESBY - 48 
 
 PAW PAWS, PORT MORESBY - - 50 
 
 BOAT MANNED BY NATIVES - 50 
 
 SCOW, SEEN NEAR PORT DARWIN - 54 
 
 FIRST SIGHT OF THURSDAY ISLAND - 54 
 
 PEARLING SMACKS OFF THURSDAY ISLAND 56 
 
 ix 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Facing pa0e 
 
 MAIN STREET, THURSDAY ISLAND - 56 
 
 NATIVE CARRIER, JAVA - 80 
 
 INTERIOR OF THE BROMO VOLCANO - IO2 
 
 BATOK MOUNTAIN - 124 
 
 STAIRCASE UP THE BROMO - - 128 
 
 INTERIOR OF THE BROMO - - 128 
 
 ONE OF THE STAIRCASES, BORO BOEDOR - 174 
 
 DAGOBAS, CIRCULAR TERRACE, BORO BOEDOR - 1 88 
 
 CENTRAL BUDDHA, MENDOET TEMPLE - - 2OO 
 
 FISHING, LAKE BAGENDIT - - 214 
 
 RAFT, LAKE BAGENDIT 214 
 
 RICE-FIELDS NEAR GARGET - - 230 
 
 VIEW FROM HOTEL BELLEVUE, BUITENZORG 252 
 
 PASSER, (MARKET,) BUITENZORG - - 260 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 SYDNEY TO BRISBANE : THE GREAT BARRIER REEF 
 
 WE left Sydney (N.S.W.) on March ist in the 
 Mataram, one of the new steamers of the 
 Burns Philp line, commanded by Captain John 
 Williams. It was a steady boat of 3,300 tons, 
 and far superior to the older and smaller ones of 
 the Company in use hitherto. The state-rooms 
 and saloons were admirably appointed with every 
 modern convenience, and the food was very good. 
 It was only in the matter of bathroom accom- 
 modation for ladies, that there was some room 
 for improvement. One bath for 28 ladies and 
 children seemed an inadequate supply, and if you 
 wished to use it, meant a scramble, or else getting 
 up abnormally early. I was much amused to find 
 that some ladies had hit on the expedient of getting 
 up about 5 o'clock a.m., and after performing 
 their ablutions, returning to their berths and their 
 slumbers; not a very satisfactory proceeding in the 
 tropics. To add to the discomfort, our bathroom 
 was situated in one of the hottest parts of the ship, 
 so that the hot room in the Turkish Hamman 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 might be called cool in comparison, and the result 
 was the reverse of refreshing. The weather was 
 very rough between Sydney and Brisbane, and 
 most of the time the portholes had to be closed, 
 which was* a* great trial in such warm weather. 
 However, all fared alike, as there are no deck 
 cabins on these boats, the sleeping accommodation 
 being below the dining and smoking rooms. 
 These latter open on the deck, and above them is 
 a very comfortable saloon, situated on the top or 
 promenade deck, where our chairs were arranged. 
 These steamers leave Sydney once a month, 
 and every alternate month they include New 
 Guinea in the trip, taking letters, stores and cargo 
 to that island. The Mataram was not the 
 New Guinea boat, and for that reason had been 
 chosen by our party, as we had no desire to leave 
 the smooth waters inside the Barrier Reef for the 
 stormy waves of the Coral Sea, nor did we wish to 
 lose four days of our time in Java. However, 
 fate was too strong for us, and to New Guinea 
 we were obliged to go. A few days before the 
 time fixed for sailing, we heard to our surprise and 
 annoyance, that on account of the wreck of the 
 Moresby (another steamer of the same line) 
 a short time before on the dangerous New Guinea 
 
SYDNEY TO BRISBANE 
 
 coast, the Mataram had to take its place, so 
 that the white inhabitants of the land of Papua 
 might not suffer for lack of food and other neces- 
 saries. It was useless to protest, and there was 
 no time for change of plans; personally, I was 
 rather glad of the opportunity of visiting such a 
 little known and out of the way country, and of 
 having a chance of obtaining some interesting 
 snapshots. I should not have been so pleased 
 had I been able to foresee what fearful storms 
 were to be encountered on the way. It is well 
 the future is so mercifully hidden from us; else 
 how could we enjoy the present? 
 
 We had a full complement of passengers, about 
 46 in number, all first class, as the Mataram 
 carried neither second nor steerage. I was for- 
 tunate in getting a most comfortable double berth 
 cabin to myself, with a promise that I should keep 
 it all the way, provided no lady passenger turned 
 up at Brisbane or Cairns to claim the second 
 berth. It was my first experience of Chinese 
 stewards; only the chief and second stewards were 
 white men; all the others wore the pigtail and used 
 to tuck the ends into the pocket of the white jacket 
 worn while waiting at table, so that it might be out 
 of the way. Clad all in white, they looked ex- 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 tremely clean and smart, but their faces seemed 
 so much alike that up to the very end of the voyage 
 I had difficulty in distinguishing one from the 
 other. 
 
 As we approached Brisbane the sea became 
 calmer, and we could walk on deck without 
 appearing to be learning to skate, also we were 
 able to turn our thoughts from ourselves and take 
 an interest in our fellow passengers. 
 
 Some of the men were on their way to New 
 Guinea or Thursday Island, either for business 
 purposes or to take up appointments. One pas- 
 senger for Thursday Island was connected with 
 the pearl fishery there, and showed us some lovely 
 pearls and curious pearl blisters. The latter owe 
 their name to their being spread out like a blister 
 instead of being rounded off into the orthodox 
 pearl shape. They have their own special value, 
 and are sold at fairly high prices, to be made into 
 brooches, pendants, hat-pins and other ornaments. 
 
 A few of the passengers were on their way home 
 to Singapore, after an all too brief holiday in the 
 cooler climate of Australia; others, like ourselves, 
 were visiting Java en route for England. One 
 young lady was going to Singapore to be married, 
 and we had the pleasure of seeing her there after 
 
CHINESE STEWARDS 
 
 CHINESE STEWARDS ON BOARD THE MATARAM 
 
SYDNEY TO BRISBANE 
 
 the wedding ; another lady was always seen clasp- 
 ing a small handbag, and she volunteered the in- 
 formation that it contained a watertight tin box, 
 in which reposed a piece of candle and a box of 
 matches. Some years before she had been in a 
 wreck off the Australian coast, and though no lives 
 were lost, the passengers and crew had to take to 
 the boats in the darkness of the night, and 
 managed to row to a desolate, rocky island, where 
 they effected a landing. Here they suffered many 
 discomforts, not the least being the want of 
 matches; they had with them tea, water, and plenty 
 of food, but such matches as were in the possession 
 of the men of the party being too wet to be of use, 
 they were unable to light a fire or boil water for 
 tea. This lady told us that the horror of the 
 moment on board the ship, when all the lights went 
 out suddenly and they were left in total darkness, 
 and fully alive to the possibility of the ship going 
 down immediately, was indescribable, and never 
 to be effaced from her memory. She determined 
 if ever she should be in another shipwreck it 
 should not be her fault if matches were missing; 
 hence her constant companion, the bag with the 
 tin box containing them. Fortunately, we did 
 not require her kind services on the Mataram, 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 but it seemed to me rather like " locking the door 
 when the steed was stolen "; as it was most un- 
 likely that exactly the same circumstances would 
 occur again; next time the tea might be missing or 
 the wood for the fire. However, when it made 
 her happy to think she need not be drowned in 
 the dark for want of a box of matches, it was not 
 for us to criticise or find fault. 
 
 There were several young people on board to 
 whom the sunny days and calm evenings on the 
 Mataram when it was sailing in smooth waters, 
 gave many opportunities for that old, yet 
 ever new and always fascinating occupation of 
 love-making. I am glad to say from information 
 since received that in at least two instances the 
 wooing resulted in happy marriages. Most of 
 the passengers were very pleasant, a few exceed- 
 ingly so, and we made some valued friendships 
 which are still maintained. But as there is no 
 rule without an exception, so in one or two cases 
 the passengers did not attain the general standard 
 of agreeableness. One lady did her best to annoy 
 and make mischief, and her language when put 
 out or irritated in any way seemed more in touch 
 with Billingsgate than Mayfair, to which latter 
 district she claimed to belong. 
 
 6 
 
SYDNEY TO BRISBANE 
 
 Another lady had a small pet dog which was a 
 perfect nuisance, always getting under people's 
 feet, and too spoiled and pampered to be interest- 
 ing. If the dog's mistress had been nice, and 
 made herself agreeable, we should not have 
 minded so much; but she was just the opposite, 
 nasty and disdainful, the kind of person a friend 
 of mine calls a " Snorter." This was bad policy 
 on her part, as the other passengers could have 
 insisted on the dog being relegated to the cook's 
 care and not allowed on the upper deck. In fact, 
 there was at one time during the voyage an agita- 
 tion to put this into effect and banish doggie to the 
 regions below, where I feel sure he would really 
 have had a much happier time. Rumours of this 
 reached her, and she was much alarmed at the 
 prospect of such a fate for her pet; her consequent 
 change of manner and extreme amiability were 
 most amusing to witness. One day I came on 
 deck and found the pampered little beast using our 
 precious table (brought with much trouble from 
 Brisbane) as a pedestal, on which he squatted, 
 while his adoring mistress caressed and fondled 
 him. This was really too much ; so greatly to the 
 amusement of some of the passengers standing by, 
 I politely but firmly requested his removal, at the 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 same time emphasizing my words by tilting the 
 table to such an angle that the cherished darling 
 was obliged to jump off. On the whole, however, 
 we had a very happy time, and were a " goodly 
 ship's company "; the Captain also was kindness 
 itself, and did everything in his power for the com- 
 fort and convenience of the passengers. He was 
 always bright and cheery even in the most tem- 
 pestuous weather, and guided his boat most skil- 
 fully through many a dangerous channel. 
 
 We reached Brisbane in two and a half days 
 from Sydney, landing at its port (which bears the 
 curious name of Pinkenbah) , from which half an 
 hour's journey brings one to Brisbane proper. 
 The trains are evidently not timed to meet the 
 boats, or else we were very late, as we had 
 more than an hour to wait. This further 
 curtailed the very short time at our disposal 
 for seeing Brisbane, our steamer being due 
 to leave again at midnight. Brisbane has been 
 called " The Queen City of Australia," " Beauti- 
 ful Brisbane," etc., but in my opinion Sydney far 
 surpasses it both in beauty of situation and also 
 from an architectural point of view. Neverthe- 
 less, it is a fine city, and has a special charm of 
 its own. There are many handsome public build- 
 
SYDNEY TO BRISBANE 
 
 ings, good shops, and wide streets; the atmosphere 
 is clear, with little or no smoke from factories, and 
 the city, taken as a whole, is certainly more 
 tropical looking than Sydney. This is partly due 
 to the numerous beautiful trees palm, camphor, 
 acacia, banana, and best of all the jackaranda 
 tree, with its wealth of blue flowers. There are 
 many pretty villas near the town, ideal houses for 
 hot weather, with their broad verandahs and 
 charming gardens. Some of them had an odd 
 appearance as they were built on piles, the better 
 to withstand the ravages of the white ant, that 
 terrible scourge of the tropics. 
 
 Brisbane enjoys a more equable climate than 
 either Sydney or Melbourne, and is free from the 
 sudden and surprising changes of temperature that 
 one has to get inured to in both of these places, 
 more especially in Melbourne. The winter in the 
 " Queen City " is perfectly delightful, but the 
 summer is often unbearably hot. Brisbane has a 
 great future before it, and when it gets a good 
 water supply and a hygienic system of drainage, 
 will almost have attained perfection as a dwelling 
 place. Possibly these blessings are now in- 
 stalled, as the Brisbanites were eagerly expecting 
 them when we were there. 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 Our time was too limited for much sight seeing; 
 a walk through the principal streets, purchases of 
 fruit and biscuits and a small table to take back 
 to the ship, and then darkness descended with the 
 astonishing suddenness of the tropics (which know 
 not the charm of the twilight hour) , and we had to 
 seek the Gresham Hotel, dine there, and take the 
 train back to our steamer. At the railway station, 
 which is nearly opposite the hotel, we found the 
 little table, of wickerwork and bamboo, with which 
 we had to content ourselves, instead of the folding 
 table we wanted, Brisbane not possessing such an 
 article. We were about to have it put in the car- 
 riage with us as there was plenty of room; but this 
 was not allowed. A pompous-looking official in 
 uniform insisted on regarding it as merchandise, 
 to be put in the luggage van and paid for accord- 
 ingly; so we had to expend a further sum amount- 
 ing to one-third of the original cost for the privi- 
 lege of taking it away. Such red tapism about a 
 tiny table was most absurd; but the article in ques- 
 tion was a great comfort to us in our subsequent 
 journey ings, and we never regretted its cost. 
 
 The Mataram left Pinkenbah at midnight, 
 and this was a pity, as we missed the scenery of the 
 coast immediately beyond Brisbane, so renowned 
 
 10 
 
SYDNEY TO BRISBANE 
 
 for its beauty. In the morning the rough weather 
 recommenced, and the scenery ceased to interest 
 us, though we caught glimpses of a charming coast 
 line, especially when passing Smoky Point; but 
 the steamer pitched and tossed in a most distress- 
 ing and uncomfortable fashion when we had 
 passed out from the shelter of the land and felt the 
 full force of the wind. On the morning of the fifth 
 day out from Sydney, to our great joy we steamed 
 past Moreton Island into smooth water, and were 
 inside the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. The 
 delight of gliding along in a calm sea, and being 
 able to survey and enjoy the picturesque scenery 
 made us forget all our discomfort. 
 
 There is a very narrow and dangerous channel 
 between Moreton Island and the mainland; our 
 Captain, who was extremely careful and rightly 
 so, would not risk entering it till daylight. On 
 Moreton Point there is a lighthouse for a beacon 
 and a warning. 
 
 We were now within the " Great Barrier Reef 
 of Australia," which lies off the East coast of 
 Queensland, and is more than a thousand miles 
 long, not continuous, but with various gaps and 
 channels, some wide enough to allow ships to pass 
 through, others too narrow and dangerous even 
 
 ii 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 for small boats. This great reef is comprised of 
 coral and the skeletons of coral polyps. Not very 
 long ago, it was popularly supposed that coral was 
 the work of an insect, and stood in somewhat the 
 same relation to it as the honeycomb to the bee, 
 sermons were preached on the subject and 
 analogies drawn. Now we are more enlightened, 
 and thanks to Darwin and Dana we have learned 
 that coral is a calcareous deposit of various kinds 
 of polyps (of the class Anthozoa) , which assumes 
 many and often beautiful forms. These coral 
 producing polyps increase by budding, the young 
 polyp buds issuing from the original polyps in 
 various directions from the top or sides or base, 
 not disconnecting themselves, but remaining 
 where they have grown out, although the parent 
 polyps may be dead. In their turn they send out 
 more buds and so on ad infinitum. This lime- 
 stone deposit begins when the polyp is single and 
 has attached itself to something, it may be a rock 
 or even part of the wreck of a ship. The coral 
 continues to increase in the manner described, the 
 so-called skeletons of the dead polyps helping to 
 make a foundation on which the living coral 
 grows. Many species are included in the common 
 name coral, and each has its scientific appellation, 
 
 12 
 
SYDNEY TO BRISBANE 
 
 but no very sharp dividing line can be drawn be- 
 tween one group or another. The Great Barrier 
 Reef is mostly composed of Madrepore or lime- 
 stone coral, which forms a solid mass, though 
 Millepore (class Hydrozoa) and other kinds are 
 also found. Some of these Madrepores have the 
 whole frame covered by a living substance, not 
 unlike gelatine, which joins all the polyps to- 
 gether, but the living part decomposes as soon as 
 the coral is taken out of the water. 
 
 The growth of a coral reef depends on the lime- 
 stone coral, and as these reef builders can only 
 exist and do their work in clean, fresh sea water 
 not deeper than 125 feet, nor colder than 68F., 
 they must make their home in the tropics. The 
 familiar red coral is found in the Mediterranean, 
 sometimes at a great depth, and belongs to the 
 Alcyonaria class of coral (sub-division Alcyon- 
 acea) , but it is not in any sense reef coral. Some 
 reefs grow much more rapidly than others, as much 
 as three inches a year, others only advance one 
 inch. Where parts of these reefs rise above the 
 sea level they form islands on which a sparse vege- 
 tation is found, and occasionally a palm tree; the 
 portion of the reef under water is indicated by a 
 line of breakers. Instead of a reef the coral some- 
 
 13 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 times is formed by various agencies into an atoll 
 or island, with a lagoon of water in the middle and 
 a fringe of coral round, broader or narrower as the 
 case may be. If the breaks or gaps in the coral 
 barrier are wide enough for ships to pass through, 
 they find safe anchorage in the lagoon. Although 
 the coral polyps can only live in comparatively 
 shallow water, yet the coral reefs rise from a depth 
 of several hundred or even thousand feet. Darwin 
 accounts for this by his theory that the sites of the 
 reefs undergo a gradual subsidence, correspond- 
 ing to the growth of the reef upwards, and in this 
 way he was supported by Dana, and their explana- 
 tion was accepted by most geologists. Later it 
 was discovered that this theory did not always fit 
 the condition; as in the case of some coral reefs, 
 notable at the Pelew Islands (see foot note) , the 
 sea floor has been raised instead of submerged. 
 From this Sir John Murray argued that reefs can 
 be built up without a sinking floor, or may grow 
 on a settled foundation, such as the slope of a 
 volcanic island. The reef grows mostly on the 
 outer or sea side, and the action of the salt water 
 
 Pelew Islands. A group of 26 small Islands in the Pacific Ocean, 
 lying to the East of the Philipine Islands, discovered by the Spaniards 
 in 1545, and in their possession till they were purchased by Germany 
 in 1899, and now form part of the German New Guinea Protectorate. 
 Only six of the Islands are inhabited. 
 
 4 
 
SYDNEY TO BRISBANE 
 
 dissolves the dead coral inside the reef or atoll, 
 making a basin for the lagoon; only the margin of 
 the reef is alive, the remainder is a bed of dead 
 coral, limestone, shells, etc. 
 
 As coral only thrives in clear water, it avoids 
 the mouth of a river where the sand and debris 
 brought down by the current makes the water 
 muddy and turbid. At Cairns so much silt is 
 brought down by the Barrow river that a flat has 
 been formed extending a long way out and pre- 
 venting ships from coming into the harbour. 
 
 Wonderful corals are found off Cairns, beauti- 
 ful both in form and colour, pink, violet, brown, 
 etc. , as described by Agassiz in his visit to the reef, 
 and later by Saville Kent in his most comprehen- 
 sive and exhaustive account of c The Great 
 Barrier Reef of Australia." These corals are 
 much more brilliant than any found in the West 
 Indies; but we had no chance of seeing them as 
 our steamer gave the dangerous coral as wide a 
 berth as possible, and kept in midchannel where 
 the water was rather muddy owing to the silt 
 brought down by the river. 
 
 It was a great disappointment, but we consoled 
 ourselves by looking at the coast line, which here 
 presented a most delightful panorama of hills, 
 
 '5 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 covered with shrubs, tree ferns, bananas, and 
 taller trees, such as the graceful acacias, Moreton 
 Bay pines, araucarias, or Bunya Bunya trees, 
 growing to a height of 100 to 150 feet, also the 
 dark green eucalyptus tree which attains a still 
 greater height. Close down by the shore and 
 even growing out of the water were mangrove 
 thickets and dense undergrowth. Half way up 
 the heights were pretty little houses with wide 
 verandahs, showing white against the green 
 foliage. We also passed countless little islands, 
 as we threaded our way in and out among them at 
 a respectful distance; for their proximity indicated 
 coral, and that spelt danger. The weather was 
 perfect, the sun shining brightly in a cloudless 
 blue sky, making everything stand out with almost 
 startling vividness. We sat on deck and enjoyed 
 the scenery as we passed smoothly and swiftly 
 along, knowing full well that such bliss was too 
 perfect to last. Had we not been going to New 
 Guinea we should have been able to prolong this 
 enjoyment the whole way to Thursday Island; but 
 after Cairns we had to leave the sheltered waters 
 inside the reef, and venture forth into the Coral 
 Sea, to encounter the storms, certain to be met 
 with, at that time of the year. 
 
 16 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 CAIRNS, SAMARAI ; LANDING AT NEW GUINEA 
 
 CAIRNS is a prettily situated but rather straggling 
 town at the head of Trinity Bay, about 900 miles 
 N.W. of Brisbane. The harbour is spoilt, as I 
 have mentioned before, by the debris from the 
 river, and ships must anchor a couple of miles 
 from the shore. As we were not allowed to land 
 this did not much matter. A high range of moun- 
 tains rises behind Cairns, and in this range are 
 the celebrated Barrow Falls, of which we had 
 heard much and which we were hoping to see. 
 All we saw, however, was a distant view of the 
 railway line and the white smoke of a passing train 
 on its way thither. Cairns is quite tropical, and 
 for a great part of each year most unpleasantly 
 hot; it is surrounded by magnificent forests where 
 cedars are to be found, as well as those trees 
 enumerated before. The soil is rich, and cotton, 
 sugar cane, rice and tobacco can be cultivated, but 
 without coloured labour it is doubtful whether they 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 could be made remunerative. As for fruit, the 
 variety and abundance are both remarkable; pine- 
 apples, bananas, custard apples, mangoes, per- 
 simmon and the delicious passion-fruit grow 
 freely, as well as those known to us in England, 
 such as apples, pears, plums, grapes, oranges, 
 apricots and peaches. These last named some- 
 times attain a great size, nine or ten inches in cir- 
 cumference, and have a most delicious flavour. 
 Cairns is right in the midst of the mineral riches of 
 Queensland, and precious stones in almost a be- 
 wildering variety are found in its neighbourhood, 
 especially opals and sapphires; diamonds, rubies, 
 topazes and emeralds also abound. The whole of 
 Queensland is rich in minerals, and there are gold, 
 silver, copper, coal and tin mines. It is a great 
 pity there is such a meagre population in this land 
 of untold riches, as it badly needs people, especi- 
 ally men who will work. f A white Australia ' 
 is all very well in theory, but the climate is not 
 such as to make a white man take kindly to hard 
 labour, generally under a burning sun; yet with- 
 out such labour the land cannot be developed. 
 Foreign white people would be less desirable than 
 the coloured people of our Indian Empire, or even 
 Chinese, and might in time be far more dangerous; 
 
 18 
 
LANDING AT NEW GUINEA 
 
 yet if the latter are refused entrance, the former 
 are bound to come. 
 
 Although I was not actually in Cairns, it is in- 
 delibly imprinted on my memory as the place 
 where I had to share my cabin with a lady and a 
 baby ! I had known there was a possibility of a 
 lady coming on board, who would occupy the 
 second berth in my cabin, but a baby as well was 
 quite outside the scope of my imagination. No 
 lady passenger came on at Brisbane, and when the 
 tender put off from Cairns and came along- 
 side, I need not describe my anxiety as I scanned 
 the passengers for our boat, nor how rejoiced 
 I was to find they were all of the male sex; 
 19 men but no woman. My joy, alas, was short- 
 lived! No sooner were all the passengers on 
 board than I received a message from the purser 
 to say he was at his wits end to find accommodation 
 for the unexpected influx of passengers (some of 
 whom were from the shipwrecked Moresby) , and 
 much as he regretted having to do it, he would be 
 obliged to send a lady and her baby into my cabin 
 and use hers for some of the men. He assured 
 me it would only be for a short time, just till we 
 reached Port Moresby (New Guinea) whither 
 most of the Cairns passengers were bound. There 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 was no help for it, so I had to submit with as good 
 grace as possible. The baby was a dear little 
 girl, about 18 months old, and her mother as nice 
 as could be, but I made up my mind to vacate the 
 cabin in their favour at night, and sleep in the 
 saloon. 
 
 On the launch or tender were some Papuans 
 returning to New Guinea, and we were eager to 
 see them and get some snapshots if possible. 
 They were fine looking, well built young fellows, 
 and presented a very striking appearance with 
 their great mops of dark hair standing out round 
 their heads, something after the fashion of a bottle 
 brush, or golliwog. One of them, with a particu- 
 larly golliwog looking head of hair, into which he 
 had stuck some scarlet feathers, seemed quite to 
 enjoy the sensation he was creating, as he balanced 
 himself in a perilous position on the side of the 
 boat and smoked a cigar that some one had given 
 him. I got a snapshot of him, but he was too far 
 off for a good one. (See photo.) Then I had 
 to leave those fascinating sights and go down to 
 prepare my cabin for its unwelcome visitors. I 
 was very sorry for the baby's mother; it was in- 
 finitely worse for her than for me, as she had to 
 turn out of her own cabin and bring all her 
 
 20 
 
LANDING AT NEW GUINEA 
 
 possessions with her as well as the baby's belong- 
 ings. I had to vacate my lower berth too, as the 
 baby could not be in the upper one; this did not 
 much matter, as I used the berth only as a re- 
 ceptacle for my goods and chattels, and went each 
 night to sleep in the saloon. 
 
 We were only outside Cairns for three hours, 
 and very soon after leaving it our steamer passed 
 out from the shelter of the Barrier Reef into the 
 wind-tossed waters of the Coral Sea. 
 
 " The tempest howls, the foaming surges roar, 
 While I unhappy, quit the safer shore." 
 
 might have been said by each one of us as we left 
 Cairns, for the tempest did indeed howl its loudest 
 and the storm was awful. The wind blew a per- 
 fect gale, the rain fell in torrents, great black 
 clouds covered the sky, and the Captain told us 
 we had gone right into the N.W. Monsoon. For 
 four days the storm raged with unabated fury, and 
 as it increased, our interest in life and mundane 
 affairs correspondingly declined. Our good ship 
 gave many expressions of dislike to the situation 
 by creaks, groans and shivers; she also performed 
 a sort of ocean war dance that did not conduce to 
 comfort. Great waves rolled up, looking like 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 mountains, and broke over the ship and swamped 
 the deck from end to end, and the noise was 
 terrific; you could not hear yourself speak unless 
 you shouted at the top of your voice, and not 
 always then. The heat was well nigh unbear- 
 able, and as all the portholes had to be closed, the 
 cabins were airless and suffocating. It was well 
 we had such a careful commander as Captain John 
 Williams, who knew the dangers of the course, 
 and would take no risks, or we might have met 
 with the fate of the Moresby. As it was, it 
 taxed all his skill and seamanship to get us 
 through safely. 
 
 The cabins were so hot and stuffy that I was 
 glad I had an excuse to sleep in the saloon, and 
 really had the best of it, for being on the upper 
 deck, it was comparatively cool. In fact, several 
 of the passengers followed my example. 
 
 The poor baby and her mother had a very bad 
 time, as they were both ill in that airless cabin; 
 they were much to be pitied. 
 
 One little interlude came in the midst of the 
 storm when we approached Samarai, a beautiful 
 little island off the coast of New Guinea. In the 
 shelter of its shore we did not feel the storm quite 
 so much, though it continued as fiercely as ever. 
 
 22 
 
LANDING AT NEW GUINEA 
 
 To counter-balance this brief respite, a most 
 terrific thunderstorm burst upon us as we drew 
 near the island. It was a grand but terrible sight. 
 The vivid flashes of lightning and loud peals of 
 thunder were simultaneous, and the noise was like 
 the roar of cannon accompanied by the sharp crack 
 of rifles, as though the artillery of heaven were 
 arrayed against us. At one moment the sky 
 was a pall of inky blackness, across which 
 arrows of lightning, like so many fiery serpents, 
 darted and scintillated; the next moment it was 
 one blaze of light, forming a background for zig- 
 zags of forked flames of an even intenser bright- 
 ness; again " a cloud of lightning " seemed to 
 enfold the heavens. As for the rain, the only 
 description applicable to it is Job's, where he says 
 ' the clouds poured out water." 
 
 Just as we anchored, the thunderstorm ceased 
 as suddenly as it had begun, but the rain con- 
 tinued in the same cataract fashion, and only a few 
 of our more intrepid passengers went ashore. Our 
 ship was some distance from the coast, so the land- 
 ing had to be effected in small boats; these tossed 
 up and down and looked as if they might be 
 swamped at any moment, though the occupants 
 could not have been much wetter if they had. 
 
 23 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 These latter presented a sorry spectacle on their 
 return, with the water streaming from hats and 
 garments, and they looked like the proverbial 
 drowned rats. But they brought back glowing 
 accounts of the beauty of the little island, and we 
 could see from the steamer, in spite of the rain, 
 what a charming appearance it presented. 
 
 Samarai is so small that it is possible to walk all 
 over it in half an hour. The little township is 
 celebrated for its beautiful avenue of many 
 coloured crotons, bordered by cocoanut palms. 
 Crotons are variegated shrubs with most bril- 
 liantly coloured leaves, looking at a distance 
 almost like flowers. One of the courageous pas- 
 sengers who landed brought back a piece of 
 hibiscus blossom, a lovely crimson flower, rather 
 like a Madonna lily in shape, but with a long, red 
 tassel hanging from the centre. It was the first 
 of the kind we had seen, though we were to grow 
 very familiar with it in Java where it flourishes in 
 great abundance. Two hours sufficed to land 
 the cargo we had brought to Samarai, and we then 
 took our departure. Some little distance from 
 land a beautiful kingfisher came flying over the 
 ship, and one of the passengers caught it outside 
 the porthole of his cabin and brought it into the 
 
 24 
 
AVENUE OF CROTONS, SAMARAI 
 
 MAIN STREET, SAMARAI. 
 
LANDING AT NEW GUINEA 
 
 saloon for us to see. It was much alarmed at 
 being held prisoner, and squawked vigorously as 
 a protest. It had a most lovely plumage, 
 exquisite shades of green ranging from a light to 
 quite a dark colour. I am glad to say its captor 
 allowed it to go free, which was very good of him, 
 as he was a collector of birds and sorely tempted 
 to keep it. He did say that if it returned he might 
 not be so merciful, but I suppose it reached the 
 shore safely, as we never saw it again. 
 
 Passing out from the shelter of Samarai, we 
 found the tempest lying in wait for us with re- 
 doubled fury, and in addition we had the wind 
 against us. The storm increased in proportion as 
 we got into the open, and in a short time we felt 
 the full force of the monsoon. It was darkly 
 hinted that there might be even worse in store, as 
 a hurricane was not improbable at this season. 
 However, we were spared that. We were due in 
 Port Moresby that night, but there seemed no pro- 
 bability of our arriving up to time as the storm had 
 delayed us, and the Captain dared not run the risk 
 of trying to navigate the dangerous passage into 
 the Bay after dark. It was difficult enough in 
 daylight. We had therefore to endure another 
 night of discomfort, and we heartily wished that 
 
 2 5 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 New Guinea had never been discovered, or that 
 the discoverer had kept the knowledge to himself. 
 But for it, we should have been gliding along in 
 a calm sea to Thursday Island, and escaped all the 
 gale. Some of our passengers had been in worse 
 storms, they said, but all agreed they had never 
 known such a long one. Generally they last from 
 24 to 48 hours at most, but we had had practically 
 eight days of rough weather, and on four of these 
 a furious tempest. That last night was the worst 
 of all, and even the best sailors were tired out with 
 the heat and discomfort; so most thankful were we 
 when next morning about 11.30 o'clock we 
 steamed into Moresby Bay. So much had the 
 storm delayed us that we arrived at New Guinea 
 when our time-table said we should be leaving it! 
 At Samarai we had taken on board a passenger 
 from a shipwrecked government schooner, and 
 now we heard that Burns Philp's cargo steamer 
 had also been wrecked on the reef only the day 
 before, so we had good reason to rejoice at our 
 own safe arrival. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 PORT MORESBY IN PAPUA 
 
 THERE is no harbour at Port Moresby, only two 
 wooden piers for small boats, so we had to anchor 
 quite a mile and a half from the land and had a 
 good view of the coast with a high range of 
 mountains in the distance. It was such a relief 
 to feast our eyes on green trees and hills and a 
 clear, blue sky, instead of on green foam-tipped 
 waves and tempestuous clouds. 
 
 Even in the Bay it was quite rough enough on 
 account of the high winds which still prevailed, 
 quite unlike the smooth water inside the Barrier 
 Reef. We longed for a steam-launch or tender 
 to bear us to the shore and much wished Messrs. 
 Burns Philp had provided one; so did the Cap- 
 tain, who found it extremely difficult to get his 
 cargo landed. In default of such a launch we 
 had to take to small boats or canoes manned 
 by natives, and though it was by no means easy to 
 get into them, we were so rejoiced at the prospect 
 
 27 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 of being once more on solid earth, that we never 
 hesitated. Once we were clear of the ship our 
 little craft rocked up and down in the most alarm- 
 ing fashion, for the waves that looked quite small 
 from the upper deck, assumed mountain-like pro- 
 portions when viewed from our small barque low 
 down in the water. When we reached the wooden 
 pier, which extends some considerable way into 
 the sea, we had great difficulty in effecting a land- 
 ing, owing to the wash of the waves against the 
 wharf. The boat bumped up and down in such 
 a manner that only at intervals was it quite close 
 to the pier and you had to seize that fleeting 
 moment to jump or be pulled on shore up some 
 very slimy, slippery steps. I tried the jump, but 
 was not quite quick enough, and but for the 
 presence of mind and the strong hand of a fellow 
 passenger, who most kindly clutched me with a 
 firm grasp, I should have had at best an im- 
 promptu and undesired bath, the water just there 
 being very deep indeed. Fortunately the catas- 
 trophe was averted, and I half tumbled, and was 
 half dragged, up the steps, and so landed in New 
 Guinea. Once on shore and our minds at rest 
 we were able to turn our attention to the groups of 
 natives who had congregated at the end of the 
 
 28 
 
PORT MORESBY IN PAPUA 
 
 pier to watch our arrival. The men wore no 
 clothing except a waist cloth, their bodies being 
 liberally tattooed ; they were further adorned with 
 armlets of plaited straw and earrings of tortoise- 
 shell, as many as half-a-dozen in each ear. A 
 few had nose rings and one man displayed a 
 unique ornament in the shape of a large white 
 safety pin worn as an earring, of which he seemed 
 quite proud. The women have petticoats of 
 loose dried grass of a reddish brown colour, woven 
 into a band and tied round the waist. The upper 
 part of the body was bare, but much tattooed like 
 the men, and similar armlets and earrings were 
 worn with the addition of necklaces of beads. 
 The children, whose clothing consisted of bead 
 necklaces and bracelets only, were such funny, 
 fat, little, brown things. Natives belonging to 
 the Mission go about clothed quite decently, the 
 men in calico coats and trousers, the women in 
 gaily coloured skirts and jackets. 
 
 Before telling what befel us in Port Moresby, 
 I ought perhaps to say something about New 
 Guinea itself, as until lately, it has been rather an 
 unknown region. Till I visited it I had but the 
 vaguest notion where it was. situated, or to whom 
 it belonged. 
 
 29 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 New Guinea is the largest island in the world 
 (excepting, of course, Australia) and is nearly 
 1,500 miles long from East to West and 200 broad 
 from North to South. It lies to the north of 
 Queensland and is separated from it by Torres 
 Straits, and south of the Caroline Islands. It 
 stretches far out into the Coral Sea, and, at its 
 most easterly point is situated Port Moresby; 
 therefore it takes some days to get there from 
 Cairns. On the west it extends almost to the 
 Molucca Islands. It was discovered as far back 
 as 1511 by Antonio de Abrea, but was practically 
 unknown till 1793, when it was annexed by the 
 East India Company. This act not being con- 
 firmed by the Home Government was of little use. 
 It was not till almost a century later, when 
 Australia became alarmed at the rapid way in 
 which Holland was securing the Western half of 
 the island, and at the rumours that Germany also 
 wished for a share, that any action on the part 
 of England was taken. Queensland was dis- 
 mayed at the prospect of foreigners in possession 
 of land so close to her shores, and with much diffi- 
 culty, and after many appeals, persuaded Eng- 
 land to allow British New Guinea to become a 
 Crown Colony, subject to the Commonwealth 
 
 30 
 
PORT MORESBY 
 
 DUG-OUT CANOE, PAPUA 
 
PORT MORESBY IN PAPUA 
 
 Government. But this was only arranged on con- 
 dition that the Australian Government made itself 
 responsible for the money required. That was in 
 1888, and from that time up to 1906 very little 
 was done to develop the resources of the place. 
 In 1905 the name was changed to Papua by Act 
 of Parliament, and handed over to the Australian 
 Commonwealth to be governed by it. In 1906 
 the Federal Government took over the possession 
 of Papua, and since then its progress has been 
 by leaps and bounds, so much so that it is to be 
 regretted that the Australian Government were 
 not allowed a free hand years before. There is 
 a Lieutenant-Governor and a local Executive 
 Council, also a Legislative Council consisting of 
 the Executive Council and three nominated un- 
 official members. The Colony is divided into 
 seven divisions, each of which has a resident 
 magistrate.* Port Moresby, where we landed, is 
 the principal town and seat of government; it 
 contains about 2,000 natives and 60 white people. 
 Papua (to give it the proper title) is unlike any 
 other country, not only in size, but because of its 
 
 * From 1885 to 1914, German New Guinea or Kaiser Wilhelmsland 
 had an area of over 70,000 square miles, more than a quarter of the 
 island. This, Germany's largest colony outside of Africa, was taken 
 by the Australian forces on September 35th, 1914, and the British flag 
 hoisted. 
 
 31 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 primitiveness. In the interior is found the stone 
 age in full sway, while nearer the coasts it gives 
 way to the iron age, but very gradually, so that 
 the stone axe and steel tomahawk are used side 
 by side. In warfare, the sling, the spear and 
 shield, the bow and arrow are all used, and primi- 
 tive industries, such as canoe making, pottery, 
 cultivation of the ground, etc., are still conducted 
 as in the earliest ages. The native canoes that 
 we saw at Port Moresby were all merely rough 
 trunks of trees, dug out or burnt out until hollow 
 enough to float evenly. The climate is hot, for 
 the greater part of the year on the coast, but 
 higher up on the mountains it is quite cool, and 
 the flowers of more temperate climes, such as 
 buttercups, daisies, forget-me-nots, rhododen- 
 drons, etc., are found in abundance. The hot 
 season is from November to May, the hottest 
 month being January; the cold season is generally 
 reckoned from June to October, the coldest 
 month being August. An immense range of 
 mountains extends through the land, some of the 
 peaks so high as to be covered with perpetual 
 snow. Mount Victoria, the highest peak, towers 
 to a height of 13,200 feet. Two large rivers 
 water the country, the Fly and the Purari. The 
 
 32 
 
PORT MORESBY IN PAPUA 
 
 former is 620 miles long, and can be navigated 
 for over 500 miles. No dangerous wild beasts 
 infest the land, but there are venomous snakes, 
 and on the coast are crocodiles and alligators. 
 These take a large toll of natives annually, most 
 of the deaths being due to snake bite, or dis- 
 appearance inside a crocodile. The vegetation 
 is most luxuriant, and trees abound; the cypress, 
 sago palm, evergreen oak, screwpine, banana, 
 breadfruit tree, sandal wood, and along the coast 
 the cocoanut palm, all grow well in New Guinea, 
 and many others also. The cocoanut palms do 
 not flourish so well in the interior, they are best 
 and more abundant near the sea. From the 
 breadfruit tree the natives make a kind of cloth. 
 Most of the products of the tropical zone can 
 be easily cultivated, the fruits especially. New 
 Guinea is also famous for its birds, especially the 
 beautiful Bird of Paradise with its wonderful 
 variety of magnificent plumes ; nearly fifty species 
 of this bird have been found. Then there is the 
 Cassowary, that queer bird allied to the Emu, 
 with only vestigial wings like the New Zealand 
 Kiwi. But as there are about 800 different 
 species of birds it would be useless to try and 
 enumerate them. 
 
 33 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 There are very few animals, mostly the Wal- 
 laby (or small kangaroo), wild swine, and the 
 Echidna or ant-eating hedgehog. No hares or 
 rabbits are found, and if the Papuan Authorities 
 are wise they will keep them out, as they have 
 grown to be such a pest in Australia and New 
 Zealand. 
 
 Those who wish to know more about Papua 
 cannot do better than read Miss Beatrice Grim- 
 shaw's delightful and comprehensive account, in 
 her book, " The New New Guinea," and I would 
 also refer them to " The World of Life " by Dr. 
 Alfred Russel Wallace, in which he writes most 
 enthusiastically of the vegetable life in New 
 Guinea. Port Moresby is reckoned a town, but 
 to the traveller it looks more like a village, con- 
 sisting as it does of a number of wooden and iron 
 one-storied houses on either side of a so-called 
 street, on which the grass grows freely, as there 
 are no carts, carriages or horses to keep it down. 
 It seemed strange to be in a place and not see a 
 vehicle of any description. The town boasted of 
 two stores, one belonging to Burns Philp & Co., 
 and the other to one of our fellow passengers. 
 There is also a wooden building dignified by the 
 name of Post Office, which stands apart from the 
 
 34 
 
PORT MORESBY IN PAPUA 
 
 others and nearer the landing stage. All these 
 houses have broad verandahs, so necessary in a 
 hot climate, and most of them are built on piles 
 on account of the insects. Some of them, especi- 
 ally those belonging to Government Officials, 
 have very pretty gardens, the many coloured 
 croton shrubs, and scarlet hibiscus making a gay 
 display, while overhead the feathery palm trees 
 provided a grateful shade from the burning heat. 
 There were a few palm trees also on either side 
 of the street, but too far apart to afford much 
 shelter from the sun; many more are needed. 
 On the heights above the town are a few resi- 
 dences, notably Government House, a white 
 building standing out against the dark green 
 foliage, also the Station of the London Mis- 
 sionary Society, which is farther along the coast 
 and overlooks the native village of Elavara. 
 
 Our first visit after landing was to the Post 
 Office, to buy stamps and postcards, but we found 
 it closed, not to be opened till 4 o'clock p.m., as 
 the officials were busy sorting and distributing the 
 mails we had brought and could not be disturbed 
 in their arduous task. We had a suspicion that 
 this meant they wanted time to read their own cor- 
 respondence, and our suspicions were confirmed 
 
 35 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 when we met the greater part of the white popu- 
 lation sitting or standing in the shade of trees or 
 houses perusing closely written sheets of foreign 
 paper as we passed up the street. However, 
 there was plenty of time and we were in no hurry ; 
 they take things leisurely in Port Moresby. 
 
 The monthly steamer is the only link with the 
 outside world, and is eagerly expected and gladly 
 welcomed, not only for letters but newspapers, 
 news of what is going on, fresh faces to see and 
 new people to talk to, for it is deadly dull in Port 
 Moresby. Our next visit was to Burns Philp's 
 Store, where I tried in vain to buy a pair of white 
 cotton gloves, such luxuries are unknown there; 
 the settler in Papua either brings his gloves with 
 him or wears none. The other store where we 
 bought postcards belonged to a fellow passenger, 
 one of those from the shipwrecked Moresby, 
 who came on board at Cairns. It was much the 
 same sort of shop as Burns Philp, but more con- 
 veniently situated in the middle of the town, both 
 had large or small quantities as the case might 
 be of everything likely to be needed, something 
 after the style of a general shop in an English 
 village or small town. The picture postcards 
 were very good, showing the native villages and 
 
 36 
 
PORT MORESBY IN PAPUA 
 
 the Papuan in full dress with feather-mounted 
 hair. It is from the latter they derive their name. 
 The proprietor of the store very kindly invited 
 us to tea at his private bungalow, a few yards 
 higher up. He had been taking his two little 
 girls to school in Sydney and was returning to 
 Port Moresby when the wreck occurred. On our 
 way to his house we met a strange and uncanny- 
 looking bird, which approached us in a confident 
 manner and seemed quite tame; we were told it 
 was a Cassowary. Up to that moment I had 
 looked upon a Cassowary as a somewhat mythical 
 creature, only to be found on the plains of Tim- 
 buctoo, where it occasionally dined off missionary, 
 including his hymn-book in the repast. It was 
 rather a shock to find one stalking about Port 
 Moresby, much too small to swallow even half a 
 missionary, and showing no blood-thirsty tend- 
 encies towards us. It was either not full-grown 
 or was a poor specimen of its kind, probably the 
 latter, which was not surprising considering its 
 origin. Our host told us that either he or a friend 
 (I cannot now remember which, and fancy the 
 point was purposely left obscure) found a rather 
 rough-looking, large, greenish egg, and curious 
 to see what would come out of it, kept it under 
 
 37 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 his arm, day and night I presume, for some time, 
 until one day the shell cracked, and with a 
 triumphant squeak the Cassowary emerged. It 
 was brought up by hand and became so attached 
 to its foster-father that it would follow him about 
 like a dog. We were inclined to be rather scep- 
 tical about this wonderful hatching, but thought 
 it wiser to follow the advice of an old Irish jaunt- 
 ing car driver who told his fare, a lady who was 
 questioning the genuineness of one of his remark- 
 able tales, " Better believe me ma'am than go 
 look for the truth of it." However, if the first 
 part of the Cassowary story made large demands 
 on our faith, there was no doubt of the truth of 
 the latter part, as the bird was indeed exception- 
 ally tame, and not only walked solemnly after its 
 master but showed a desire for closer acquaint- 
 ance with us, which I need hardly say was not 
 reciprocated, the Cassowary not being at all a 
 nice or attractive looking bird. In appearance it 
 is something like an emu or small ostrich, of a 
 brownish-black colour, with feathers so long and 
 loose that they are more like hair; these feathers 
 are longer at the back and serve the purpose of a 
 tail. The head and upper part of the neck are 
 bare, but on the neck are two bulbous looking 
 
 38 
 
NATIVES, PORT MORESBY 
 
 
 NATIVE RAFT ON CANOES 
 
PORT MORESBY IN PAPUA 
 
 pendants, and in some cases the head is adorned 
 with a many coloured (blue, purple, and red) 
 horny crest about three inches high. Three toes 
 grow on each foot, one toe is much shorter than 
 the other two, but has a horrid, long, sharp claw 
 which it uses in self defence. When attacked it 
 fights with legs and feet and with its short, ves- 
 tigial wings. These wings are no help even in 
 running, but can be used with effect as a weapon. 
 Our Cassowary was a small bird without a crest, 
 but some attain a height of five feet. 
 
 As we approached the door of Mr. B.'s bunga- 
 low we saw under a tree, a cow ! True, it was a 
 " lean and hungry-looking " animal, but where 
 there was a live cow there might be fresh milk for 
 our tea, and our hopes rose high. One of the 
 greatest drawbacks on board ship is having to use 
 condensed milk in tea, so that the " cup that 
 cheers " with fresh milk would indeed have been 
 a luxury. Alas ! when we were seated in a most 
 charming and spacious verandah, completely 
 shaded from the sun, and a dainty tea with nice 
 biscuits was brought in, our host apologised for 
 the condensed milk, and said the supply of fresh 
 milk was so limited it had all been used up in 
 the morning. However, the tea itself was ex- 
 
 39 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 cellent and much enjoyed by us in our hot and 
 thirsty condition. While we were being enter- 
 tained, a squall of wind and rain came on, as the 
 rainy season was not yet over. We were glad to 
 be in shelter, as the rain was so heavy, but the 
 storm ceased in a few minutes and the sun shone 
 out once more. We were able to take a walk in 
 the direction of the native villages, but as the sky 
 was becoming again overcast and black clouds 
 were travelling up showing that another and 
 bigger squall was approaching, we thought it 
 wiser to postpone our visit to Hanuabada to 
 another day and return to the steamer. We had 
 a good tossing going across to it, and quite an 
 exciting time getting on board, but we were glad 
 we had not remained on shore, as the rain came 
 down in torrents for the rest of the afternoon. 
 
 Now that our extra passengers had been 
 landed, I had come into my own again, and much 
 enjoyed having my cabin to myself; I devoutly 
 hoped no lady would turn up at Thursday Island 
 to share it. Next morning there was tremendous 
 excitement over a shark that had been caught 
 close to the ship. It was so huge that it took six 
 shots to kill it, and was a fearsome beast with 
 enormous jaws. We wanted it brought on board 
 
 40 
 
PORT MORESBY IN PAPUA 
 
 that we might take some snapshots, but our re- 
 quest was not granted, as it was said the smell 
 would be awful and last for days, so that it was 
 towed to the shore to serve as a feast for the 
 natives, who esteem it a delicacy. The man who 
 shot the shark kept the huge jaws as a trophy. 
 Its fearful teeth made one shudder at the thought 
 of their closing on any human being. The native 
 boats kept cruising round the steamer; some of 
 them just dug-out canoes, others made of two or 
 three canoes lashed together by planks, which 
 made a kind of platform or raft (see photo) ; these 
 were used for taking the cargo on shore. The 
 whole made quite a pretty picture as they floated 
 about on the blue sea, manned by natives whose 
 mops of hair waved in the breeze. There was 
 also a Dutch boat at anchor in the bay, with 
 about 80 tons of cargo for Port Moresby. It 
 was still there the second morning, but left in 
 the afternoon taking the cargo with it, as it could 
 not be discharged owing to the scarcity of labour, 
 and the captain was obliged to keep to his 
 scheduled time. Our captain was not so bound, 
 but at the same time did not want to stay longer 
 than was absolutely necessary. He was quite 
 worried by the difficulty he had in persuading the 
 
 41 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 natives to come and unload. The latter are very 
 lazy and soon earn enough to buy tobacco, calico, 
 and other things, of which they have learnt the 
 value, but which they cannot make or find for 
 themselves. Then they take a rest and enjoy 
 what they have acquired, unwilling to exert them- 
 selves afresh, until their supplies are exhausted. 
 They are only paid one shilling per day, so as 
 far as money is concerned they are not hard to 
 satisfy. This laziness on their part was most in- 
 convenient for us, as it kept us so long in Papua 
 that our time in Java was considerably curtailed. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE NATIVE VILLAGES HANUABADA AND ELAVARA 
 
 THE weather was now quite settled but very hot. 
 There being no hotels in Port Moresby (though 
 one was being built) we lived on board the 
 Mataram, making expeditions to the town when 
 the weather was propitious. I had not suc- 
 ceeded so far in getting the snapshots I wanted 
 of the native villages, so on the last day of our 
 visit I set out immediately after lunch with a 
 fellow passenger, who most kindly consented to 
 accompany me. The captain was going ashore 
 to try and persuade the Governor to lend him 
 some prisoners to help in finishing the unloading 
 of the cargo, so he took us with him in his boat. 
 It was a glorious day, blue sky, hot sun, and a 
 slight but refreshing breeze, which latter was 
 fortunately blowing in our faces as we turned 
 from the town for our two or three miles walk 
 along the shore. The road skirted the beach, and 
 the leaves of the graceful cocoanut palms waved 
 
 43 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 and rustled over our heads, making a most grate- 
 ful canopy that modified in some measure the 
 scorching rays of the sun ; and it can be scorching 
 in Papua ! As we walked along we met groups 
 of women and children, and some very old men ; 
 the latter were a terrible sight in their unclothed 
 condition, but the women looked smiling and 
 happy. Papuan women wear a grass kilt or petti- 
 coat, which is called a ramies, the upper part of 
 their bodies is bare, but adorned with the most 
 intricate tattooing, neck, arms, ears, and even 
 noses having appropriate ornaments of beads, 
 shells or tortoiseshell, and this makes the women 
 look decidedly picturesque. As for the little 
 children, who were running about in their birth- 
 day dress, occasionally with a bead necklace or 
 bracelet in addition, they were the funniest of fat, 
 little, brown babies, very frightened if you 
 attempted to speak to them. The older children 
 were not so shy and perched themselves on the 
 rickety-looking platforms of their houses, so that 
 we might take their photographs and give them 
 
 pennies. 
 
 Many of the women had brown earthenware 
 
 waterpots poised on their shoulders in most grace- 
 ful fashion, and were on their way to fetch water 
 
 44 
 
NATIVES, HANUABADA, PORT MORESBY 
 
 HOUSES IN NATIVE VILLAGE OF HANUABADA 
 
HANUABADA AND ELAVARA 
 
 from a spring. I persuaded one of them to let 
 me take a snapshot of her. She had a fat, wee 
 child with her who strongly objected to the camera 
 and clung roaring and crying to its mother trying 
 to hide behind her scanty drapery. Quite 
 a little crowd collected and I got some fairly 
 successful snapshots, one of a woman standing on 
 a dug-out canoe. All were quite willing, we 
 found, to pose for a few pennies, indeed the diffi- 
 culty was to persuade them to go away. 
 
 We had now reached the broad, white, sandy 
 path that does duty for a street in the village of 
 Hanuabada, and the first of the native houses 
 came in sight. There was quite a long row of 
 them, such quaint looking dwellings, apparently 
 in such a tumble-down condition that they might 
 fall to pieces any moment. This was a delusion, 
 however, as they are really quite strong, but their 
 structure raised on high poles set in the water is 
 of such a spidery appearance that it gives them 
 an unsubstantial air. 
 
 Imagine a brown garden summer-house built 
 something like a Swiss cottage with gabled front 
 and broad verandah,perched on very high stilts 
 with a skeleton ladder, with rungs far apart, as 
 the only means of access, and you have some idea 
 
 45 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 what a Papuan house is like. The piles on which 
 the houses are built (just rough logs or trunks of 
 trees) are driven into the sea sand, so that the 
 dwelling is over the water, and you look down 
 through the extremely large spaces between the 
 logs that form the flooring, into the blue depths 
 of the ocean. Cool certainly, but apt to make 
 one a little nervous at first. The crazy ladder 
 also, by which you reach the verandah or plat- 
 form to gain access to the interior of the house, 
 is more suitable for natives with unclothed bodies, 
 and bare feet, than for white folk in heavy gar- 
 ments and high heeled shoes. But there is good 
 reason for building after this fashion; as only one 
 point of attack is presented to the enemy, tribes 
 from the hills, who used to swarm down at inter- 
 vals and attack the seabord dwellings. With 
 deep water on three sides, the people of Hanua- 
 bada and kindred villages could concentrate their 
 attention on the fourth or landward side and ward 
 off any attack. The houses have no windows, nor 
 are they needed, as the interior is only used as a 
 sleeping-place, and absence of light tends to cool- 
 ness; the broad platform in front is the living 
 place, where the natives eat and carry on such 
 work as carving, net-making, etc., while at the 
 
 46 
 
HANUABADA AND ELAVARA 
 
 same time they can see what is going on below. 
 The brown waterpots are hand-made, of clay 
 pulled by the fingers of the native women into 
 quite good and even artistic shapes, and then 
 baked in fire. This, and the making of skirts or 
 ramies of dried grass, are the only native indus- 
 tries, except a little carving done by the men. 
 
 We passed through the village and came to an 
 ascent, up which we toiled under the burning sun, 
 and reached at the top the Mission Station. From 
 this point we could see the second native village 
 of Elavara spread out before us. The houses 
 there are built after the same style as those in 
 Hanuabada, but the tout ensemble is much more 
 picturesque, as instead of a row of dwellings 
 along the sea shore, those in Elavara are grouped 
 on a little island and extend right out into the 
 open sea. (See photo). A very rickety bridge, 
 swaying from side to side, several hundred feet 
 long, connects the village with the mainland, and 
 over this the natives pass to and fro in an uncon- 
 cerned manner that wins your admiration as you 
 expect each moment to see the daring passenger 
 fall, not over but through the bridge, (so wide are 
 the spaces in the flooring,) or else the whole struc- 
 ture collapse. 
 
 47 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 On the wooded eminence where we stood, the 
 Mission premises are built. They belong to the 
 London Missionary Society, and a splendid work 
 among the natives is being carried on by the Rev. 
 Mr. Laurence, the missionary in charge, and his 
 wife. It must be no small sacrifice to live and 
 work in such a place separated from children and 
 friends. We were most heartily welcomed by 
 Mrs. Laurence, who invited us into her cool 
 verandah and regaled us with lime juice and 
 water, a most refreshing drink when one is hot 
 and thirsty. She then showed us the lace she is 
 teaching the native girls to make, and said they 
 were very apt pupils. We also inspected a num- 
 ber of Papuan curiosities, such as spears, shields, 
 and a very queer looking drum. The natives of 
 the two villages belong to the Motuan and 
 Koitapuan races; the language is called Motu or 
 Mutu, and is not very easy to learn. 
 
 The view from the verandah of the Mission 
 House was glorious; the strange looking village 
 below, the deep blue sea beyond dotted with all 
 sorts of craft, rowing and sailing, the dark foliage 
 on the opposite shore making a most effective 
 background and intensifying the cloudless vault 
 of sky, presented a wonderful picture not soon to 
 
 48 
 
NATIVE VILLAGE OF ELAVARA, PORT MORESBY 
 
HANUABADA AND ELAVARA 
 
 be forgotten. But time was passing and we had 
 a long, hot walk before us, in order to reach Port 
 Moresby wharf, and get a boat to the steamer. 
 We were about to say good-bye when a great 
 noise and shouting were heard outside. On rush- 
 ing out to ascertain the cause we found that the 
 Mission ship, the " John Williams " was just 
 entering the bay. This was the ship built and 
 equipped with money given or collected by Sun- 
 day School children all over the world, and a fine 
 looking vessel she is. Mrs. Laurence said that 
 her husband had gone out to meet it, and was to 
 send a boat to take her to it when it arrived. She 
 asked if we would accompany her and we could 
 then go on in the same boat to the Mataram 
 when she had been left on board the " John 
 Williams." Need I say we most gratefully 
 accepted her offer, only too thankful to be spared 
 the long tramp of nearly three miles on such a 
 sultry afternoon. While waiting for the boat 
 Mrs. Laurence gave us tea and delicious little 
 cakes. Then a native arrived to say the boat 
 was ready and we descended the hill to the shore. 
 We were conducted to a miniature wharf, the 
 private property of the Mission. At the end of 
 it a sailing boat was moored, manned by natives 
 
 49 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 from the Mission, clothed in gay, cotton jackets 
 and trousers, which, if less picturesque, were more 
 decorous than the native style of dress, or rather 
 no dress. 
 
 There was a favourable breeze, so our sail was 
 set and we flew over the water ; it was perfectly 
 delightful, most exhilarating, and a fitting climax 
 to an exceptionally interesting day. Leaving 
 our kind hostess on board the Mission ship we 
 were taken to the Mataram, which lay a little 
 farther out, and were just in time to reassure our 
 friends, who were beginning to feel a little 
 anxious on our account. 
 
 The captain had now landed as much cargo as 
 he possibly could, and was obliged to take the 
 remainder away together with the cargo, consist- 
 ing principally of copra and the Chinese delicacy 
 beche-de-mer, from Port Moresby. 
 
 Copra is the dried kernel of the cocoanut, used 
 in India occasionally as an ingredient in curry, 
 but chiefly valued for the oil obtained from it. 
 Sometimes it is dried in the sun or else in a kiln, 
 but in either case it yields 55 to 60 per cent, of 
 cocoanut oil. 
 
 Beche-de-mer is a corruption of a Portuguese 
 word meaning sea worm or sea slug; these are 
 
 50 
 
PAW PAWS, PORT MORES 
 
 BOAT MANNED BY NATIVES 
 
HANUABADA AND ELAVARA 
 
 allied to the sea urchins and are found on coral 
 reefs. They are used by the Chinese as a 
 favourite ingredient in their dishes, whether stews 
 or soups, and esteemed a great delicacy. In 
 shape the beche-de-mer is like a slug or small 
 cucumber, and has a thick, flexible skin, instead 
 of the horny shell of its kin, the sea urchin. The 
 more ordinary kinds live just under the sand in 
 shallow water, with the head projecting, bearing 
 according to Dana's report a beautiful, feathery 
 rosette or flower; the more valuable kinds are 
 found in deep water, and must be dived for. To 
 fit them for exportation they are slit open, boiled, 
 and then dried, when they look not unlike smoked 
 sausages. They must not be exposed to damp 
 or they are spoiled; in a perfect condition they 
 should be so dry as to " rattle like walnuts in a 
 bag." 
 
 We left Port Moresby that evening and passed 
 quite close to the sunken Moresby, which was 
 partly visible above water; not far from it was 
 another wreck lying on a reef, unmistakable 
 evidence of the perils and dangers we had 
 escaped. 
 
 Next day we were in the open sea, out of sight 
 of land for some hours, then countless little 
 
 5 1 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 islands began to appear, looking most inviting 
 with white sandy beaches and clusters of palm 
 trees. One, we were told, was Tuesday Island, 
 another Wednesday, there was also a Friday 
 Island and presumably a Monday, but many had 
 no names. Evidently, whoever was responsible 
 for their nomenclature had called each after the 
 day of the week it was first sighted or visited. 
 
 Thursday Island is the only one well known in 
 the whole group, and this because of its pearl 
 fishery. 
 
 The sunsets each evening in these tropical 
 regions were most gorgeous, the panorama of 
 colour so brilliant and varied that often we 
 neglected the summons to dinner and remained on 
 deck to watch the kaleidoscopic effects in the sky, 
 till darkness descended with disconcerting sud- 
 denness, and the claims of hunger asserted them- 
 selves. 
 
 The nights also were most delightful, so calm 
 and peaceful. After dinner most of the pas- 
 sengers came on deck to look at the Southern 
 Cross, as it shone out with intense brilliance 
 against the dark background " of Heaven's ebon 
 vault studded with stars unutterably bright." At 
 such times one knew it was good to be alive. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THURSDAY ISLAND AND PORT DARWIN 
 
 WE saw Thursday Island quite a long time before 
 we reached it, as Torres Straits is so dangerous 
 and difficult of navigation that quite a big detour 
 must be made to keep in a safe channel. How- 
 ever, we got alongside the wharf at last, and were 
 able to step on shore. This island, one of the 
 smallest in the Torres Straits, is situated N. of 
 Cape York in Queensland, and belongs to that 
 State. It is only three miles long by two and a 
 half broad, and owes all its importance to being 
 the centre of the pearl fishery carried on in those 
 parts. 
 
 The pearling business is mainly in the hands of 
 Chinese and Japanese, which is a pity. To this 
 island might aptly be applied the quotation " Dis- 
 tance lends enchantment to the view," as from 
 the steamer it looked a most charming place, just 
 the kind of island described in boys* books 
 
 53 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 of adventures in the South Seas. The little bays 
 with sandy beaches shining with dazzling white- 
 ness in the sunlight, the quantities of tropical 
 foliage giving promise of coolness and shade, all 
 served to make a fascinating picture. Not the 
 least of the attractions was the harbour itself 
 (called Port Kennedy) with its multitude of 
 schooners and pearling smacks, small boats and 
 canoes rocking on the dancing waves, together 
 with a few larger ships that had put in for shelter 
 from the storms so prevalent during the last fort- 
 night. Alas for expectations! The reality was 
 a woeful disappointment. As we entered the 
 little town and passed up its one broad street, it 
 was like walking into a " burning fiery furnace." 
 On either side were plain-looking, little wooden 
 houses, some of them shops; these latter, which 
 are mostly kept by Chinese and Japanese, have as 
 their sole redeeming feature broad awnings or 
 coverings over the doorways, which extend along 
 the front, so that a certain amount of intermittent 
 shade is afforded as one passes down the street. 
 The trees were few and far between, and useless 
 as a protection from the sun; they seemed to know 
 this, and had a listless, dispirited air, as though 
 they would fain apologise for occupying a place 
 
 54 
 
SCOW. SEEN NEAR PORT DARWIN 
 
 FIRST SIGHT OF THURSDAY ISLAND 
 
THURSDAY ISLAND & PORT DARWIN 
 
 in the landscape. Our first visit was, of course, 
 to the Post Office to get our letters and buy post- 
 cards and stamps; here we found most of our 
 fellow passengers bound on the same errand. 
 Then my brother insisted on having his hair cut, 
 as there was no barber on board our ship. He 
 soon discovered a smiling hairdresser in a little 
 wooden shop, which was perfectly clean and nice, 
 but not what you would call luxuriously appointed. 
 He sat himself down to be operated on while my 
 sister-in-law and I sauntered down the roadway 
 and looked into the windows to see if there were 
 any curios to be picked up. The curios 
 were there, but the prices extremely high. They 
 mostly consisted of mother-o'-pearl shells ex- 
 quisitely carved, spoons, knives, boxes, plaques, 
 and indeed every variety of ornament of the same 
 material; pearls too, most lovely but very costly, 
 and pearl blisters, with a variety of odds and ends 
 made of shells. 
 
 The mother-o'-pearl obtained at Thursday 
 Island is sent to China and Singapore to be 
 carved, then it comes back to the island and has to 
 pay a heavy duty as manufactured goods, hence 
 the long prices asked. The same things can be 
 bought much more cheaply at home. We pur- 
 
 55 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 chased some spoons and carved boxes as memen- 
 toes of our visit, and I took some snapshots of the 
 street and shops (see photo) . I tried to get one 
 of the church, which was built as a thankoffering 
 for the survivors and a memorial to those who were 
 lost in the wreck of the Quetta twenty years 
 before, but it was too much in the shade. 
 
 That was a terrible wreck, and is still remem- 
 bered and spoken of with bated breath. The 
 Quetta, one of the finest ships of the British 
 Indian and Australian Steam Navigation Com- 
 pany, was lost on the night of February 28th, 
 1890, near the entrance to Torres Straits. It 
 had apparently passed safely through all the 
 difficulties of the dangerous channels, and was not 
 far from Thursday Island and its harbour, when 
 it struck on an unknown rock, not marked in any 
 chart, the bottom of the ship was torn out, and in 
 three minutes she sank in thirteen fathoms of 
 water. There were about 280 people on board, 
 and of these only 160 were saved; some of the 
 latter had an extraordinary experience. One 
 girl, only 16 years old, swam about for thirty- 
 five hours before she was picked up, and 
 another, supported by a plank, drifted for almost 
 the same length of time, finally being washed 
 
 56 
 
MAIN STREET, THURSDAY ISLAND 
 
 PEARLING SMACKS OFF THURSDAY ISLAND 
 
THURSDAY ISLAND & PORT DARWIN 
 
 ashore on Adolphus Island, from whence she was 
 rescued. Subsequent examination of the spot 
 where the disaster took place showed that the 
 Quetta had struck on a pinnacle of growing 
 coral, which ripped her open for nearly two-thirds 
 of her length, so that she sank like a stone. 
 
 Mr. W. Saville Kent, in his book on " The 
 Great Barrier Reef of Australia," says that this 
 seems to show that coral grows much more rapidly 
 than is generally supposed, as this particular coral 
 rock was not in the survey made 30 or 40 years 
 before. 
 
 In the Church on Thursday Island is a porthole 
 of the ill-fated steamer, which was found many 
 years after the catastrophe entirely encrusted with 
 coral and seaweed. 
 
 The Bishop of Carpentaria has his headquarters 
 on the island, but was away visiting another part 
 of his large and scattered diocese. 
 
 It was a blisteringly hot afternoon, the heat 
 1 hit one in the face," to use Miss B. Grimshaw's 
 expressive phrase, and not only in the face but in 
 the back and on the head, and we seemed to be 
 swallowing gallons of burning air. Walking was 
 too great an effort, the comparative coolness of 
 the steamer out on the water appealed to us, and 
 
 57 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 not in vain, so we gave up all idea of further ex- 
 ploration and retraced our steps to the wharf. We 
 heard later that there were really very pretty spots 
 further inland, with shrubs, creepers and shady 
 trees, that we might have visited. We were quite 
 willing, however, to take it on trust as we had seen 
 quite enough of Thursday Island. The harbour 
 was still alive with shipping, and the sea with 
 sharks; one of the latter was caught and eagerly 
 examined amid much excitement. On enquiring 
 the reason, we were told that a Chinaman a few 
 days before had fallen from a ship in the harbour 
 and had been snapped up by a shark. In the 
 pocket of the man's trousers was his whole for- 
 tune, a large sum in gold, nearly 100 I believe, 
 which of course accompanied him into the shark. 
 Some time later one of these monsters was caught, 
 and in its maw was one leg still clothed in its 
 trouser, but not the money. Now the whole com- 
 munity is dissecting and exploring each shark that 
 is killed, in the hope of finding the other leg and 
 the gold! Nothing was found in the shark just 
 taken, but another was caught and hauled up by 
 a rope, which one of the sailors managed to fasten 
 round its slimy body. It was all but secured 
 when the rope slipped, and away went our friend, 
 
 58 
 
THURSDAY ISLAND & PORT DARWIN 
 
 or rather our enemy, no doubt carrying with him 
 the Chinaman's leg and fortune. 
 
 We were only a few hours on Thursday Island, 
 and left it without regret, though again it pre- 
 sented a pretty picture as we sailed round the 
 corner and could see the Governor's and other 
 houses perched up on the heights above the town 
 and surrounded by dark green foliage. 
 
 The sun sank below the horizon that evening in 
 a perfect blaze of colour, far too wonderful a sight 
 for mere words to give any idea of its glory, 
 nothing but actual vision could make one realize 
 such splendour. We felt we were getting near 
 home, as now the Great Bear was visible on one 
 side of the ship, while on the other the Southern 
 Cross held sway. 
 
 The next day was St. Patrick's, and in honour 
 of the occasion one of the passengers came down 
 to breakfast wearing a huge green bow instead of 
 his usual tie. It seemed a far cry from this 
 tropical sea and unclouded atmosphere to the 
 green land of St. Patrick and its misty skies. 
 
 The weather was now perfect, and the sea as 
 calm as the proverbial mill pond. There was a 
 glorious moon, and we sat on deck far into the 
 night, loth to leave such beauty and coolness for 
 
 59 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 our hot and stuffy cabins. It made one recall 
 Southey's lines: 
 
 11 How beautiful is night ! 
 A dewy freshness fills the silent air, 
 No mist obscures, nor cloud, nor speck, nor stain 
 
 Breaks the serene of heaven ; 
 In full orbed glory yonder moon divine 
 Rolls through the dark blue depths. 
 
 Beneath her steady ray 
 
 The desert circle spreads 
 Like the round ocean girdled with the sky. 
 
 How beautiful is night ! " 
 
 and the night were indeed gloriously, trans- 
 cendently beautiful. Late in the afternoon we 
 approached Port Darwin, which looked a most in- 
 viting place, the thick, tropical foliage growing 
 right down to the water's edge. The tide was full 
 in, and the water perfectly clear, reminding me 
 of the pellucid depths at Chateau d'lf near Mar- 
 seilles. Appearances, however, were again 
 deceptive. Port Darwin looks pretty enough to 
 the casual visitor, but it is terribly hot, and the 
 last place in which it would be desirable or 
 pleasant to live, at least so we were told. There 
 are very few white inhabitants, but a good many 
 Chinese and a sprinkling of aboriginals and 
 other coloured men. Rather a motley crowd 
 were on the wharf to greet us, but the white 
 
 60 
 
THURSDAY ISLAND & PORT DARWIN 
 
 folk hailed us with especial joy. We were able 
 here, as at Thursday Island, to step on shore 
 without the intervention of a boat, and were for- 
 tunate enough to secure the only vehicle Port 
 Darwin seems to boast. It was a kind of small 
 waggonette holding four. The last time my 
 brother and his wife had been to Port Darwin 
 they were unable to get this much sought after 
 conveyance, so they were particularly glad of 
 the opportunity it afforded of exploring the place; 
 as to walk any distance in the terrific heat was 
 impossible. 
 
 There is quite a nice hotel with wonderful 
 creepers growing all over its verandah and bal- 
 conies, to which we drove first; as the driver of 
 the waggonette had to get permission from the 
 Manager (who was the owner of our horse and 
 carriage) to take us round. From the hotel we 
 went on to the Botanic Gardens. In a few years' 
 time these gardens will be well worth a visit from 
 those interested in horticulture, especially of the 
 tropical kind, as it has many fine specimens of 
 trees and plants. There is a magnificent avenue 
 of cocoanut palm trees and another of crotons, 
 also some remarkably fine hibiscus shrubs whose 
 scarlet tasselled blossoms stood out with startling 
 
 61 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 vividness against the dark tree ferns. The 
 grasses were most beautiful, seven or eight feet 
 in height, and of various colours, pink, yellow 
 and brown, etc. In one part there was a splendid 
 display of brilliantly-coloured tropical flowers, 
 though their beauty was somewhat marred by the 
 weeds and climbing plants that almost choked 
 them. Want of labour is a serious drawback to hor- 
 ticultural enterprises of this kind; if the flowers 
 grow easily and quickly, so do the weeds, and it 
 is a hard and constant fight to keep the latter 
 down. Indeed, it is surprising the gardens are 
 so well kept, and reflects great credit on those in 
 charge of them. There were some especially 
 fine specimens of the ' traveller's palm ' or 
 ravenala, which I now saw for the first time. The 
 tree looks like an enormous expanded fan of a 
 bright green colour. The stalks of its huge 
 leaves hold water, sometimes as much as a quart; 
 this is obtained by piercing them, and it is quite 
 good to drink. Often these palms have been a 
 priceless boon to travellers when no other water 
 was obtainable, and that is the origin of the name. 
 The tree grows to a considerable height, and pre- 
 sents a most graceful appearance; as it grows the 
 lower leaves drop off, and there is often a very 
 
 62 
 
THURSDAY ISLAND & PORT DARWIN 
 
 long handle to the fan sometimes reaching thirty 
 feet; the leaves are used by the natives to thatch 
 their houses. Another object that attracted our 
 attention was a huge banyan tree with its branches 
 continually turning into roots and stems. 
 
 On our way back from the gardens our driver 
 took us to see his collection of birds. There must 
 have been over a thousand, and their plumage 
 was wonderfully beautiful, and so varied in 
 colour. They were not singing birds, and most 
 of them were very small, their chief value lay in 
 the exquisite and rare colouring of their feathers. 
 It is interesting to note that the plainest feathered 
 birds, like the lark, have the sweetest song, nature 
 thus giving compensation for the homely exterior. 
 The man said he was going to take the birds to 
 Europe to sell, but that it was a difficult business 
 to get them so far alive, and many died on the 
 way. Poor little birds, how they would miss 
 their bright, tropical home in the dull cities of the 
 West! 
 
 When we reached the town which bears the 
 name of Palmerston we said goodbye to our guide, 
 as we wanted to visit Chinatown with its quaint 
 shops, where all the Chinese population live. Here 
 we bought postcards and other souvenirs of our 
 
 63 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 visit, also some fresh fruit to take on board ship. 
 Port Darwin boasts a hospital, and we met some 
 of the nurses (who are also nuns) , not clothed in 
 the dark conventual garb, but wearing the prettiest 
 and most effective nurse's costume I have ever 
 seen. It consisted of a white dress, and over it a 
 pale blue apron back and front, and a long veil of 
 the same blue colour. They looked so fresh and 
 dainty it made one feel cooler to look at them. 
 
 In Chinatown we met some of our fellow pas- 
 sengers, Mr. and Mrs. G., their niece, and her 
 friend, Mrs. S., who questioned us eagerly as to 
 where we had gone when we disappeared in such 
 a mysterious fashion. We gave them an account 
 of our peregrinations, and expressed our sorrow 
 that the vehicle had not been large enough to take 
 them with us, as we should have liked to do. It 
 was getting dark, so we went back to the ship, 
 and there found why the white inhabitants had 
 been so pleased to see us. A steamer in the 
 harbour meant unlimited ice drinks for them all; 
 Port Darwin is a place that <( raises a thirst/' and 
 yet has no ice wherewith to quench it satisfactorily. 
 While we were sight-seeing they had made the 
 most of their opportunities, and remained the 
 whole time on board, following the example of the 
 
 64 
 
THURSDAY ISLAND & PORT DARWIN 
 
 " thirsty Earth that drinks and gapes for drink 
 again," as, till the next steamer came round, there 
 would be no more ice-cold " plenteous draughts ' 
 wherewith to revive their souls. In return they 
 gave us a most charming impromptu concert; some 
 of them had very fine voices indeed, and the part- 
 singing sounded beautiful and melodious on the 
 still, night air. 
 
 At midnight we departed from Port Darwin, 
 leaving the thirsty to look and long for the next 
 steamer. Three drowsy, stifling hot days followed, 
 the nights bringing little relief from the burn- 
 ing heat, except that the darkness was grateful 
 after the scorching glare of the sun all day. 
 
 We were now passing a succession of little 
 islands " lifting their fronded palms in air," the 
 sea between Port Darwin and Java being a verit- 
 able archipelago. None, however, were worthy 
 of note, though all looked pretty and seemed fer- 
 tile, until we entered Lombok Straits and passed 
 between the islands of Lombok and Bali. Here 
 the true East begins and the fauna and flora of 
 Australasia ends. 
 
 Instead of the playful and harmless wallaby, the 
 fierce leopard and man-eating tiger are to be found 
 on Bali and Lombok, as in the forests of Java. 
 
 65 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 The two mighty peaks of these islands (Bali 
 and Lombok) tower aloft into the sky, but owing 
 to their proximity to the Equator, are never 
 covered with snow. Our steamer passed so close 
 to Lombok that we could look into the caves and 
 through most wonderful arches made by the action 
 of the water. 
 
 Lombok is one of the Sunda Islands, and lies 
 between Bali and Sumbawa; it is of volcanic 
 origin, and its highest peak is over 12,000 feet 
 high. Crops similar to those in Java are culti- 
 vated, and buffaloes, cattle and horses are bred 
 and exported. The chief town bears the same 
 name as our ship, Mataram, and lies on the 
 Western coast, but the chief commercial centre is 
 Ampanam. Since 1 894 this island has been under 
 the control of the Dutch. Bali is larger than 
 Lombok, and also belongs to Holland. Its 
 highest mountain, the volcano Gunong-Agung, 
 rises to a height of 10,400 feet; the products of the 
 island are similar to those of Java, rice, sugar, 
 coffee, etc., etc. 
 
 The natives of Bali are among the most interest- 
 ing peoples of Malaysia. They are closely allied 
 to the Malayan-Java type, both in physique and 
 language, and have the same capacity for culture. 
 
 66 
 
THURSDAY ISLAND & PORT DARWIN 
 
 They also excel in handicrafts, such as metal 
 work. But the chief interest lies in the fact that 
 they have kept Brahmanism as their religion, and 
 in a form much older than is found in Hindustan 
 at the present time. Long before Hinduism was 
 known to Java that faith was firmly rooted in Bali, 
 so firmly so that when the surrounding islands, in- 
 cluding Java, had been compelled to accept the 
 Koran, Bali remained faithful to its old belief, and 
 Brahmanism has there the same strong hold now 
 as it had a thousand years ago. While our 
 steamer was passing the island we looked up at 
 the huge, extinct volcano (Mt. Agung), which 
 stands out like Mt. Fugi in Japan, and is much the 
 same sugarloaf shape. Just as we approached it 
 the sun was setting in a blaze of splendour, and 
 sharp against the crimson sky the peak stood out 
 a mass of purple and gold, while below and beyond 
 white, fleecy clouds floated, throwing into relief 
 the gorgeous colouring. It was magnificent! 
 At the foot of the mountain among the palm trees 
 were little brown villages, the houses with 
 thatched roofs. We came so near that we could 
 easily distinguish the men at work in the fields and 
 the children playing on the sandy beach. Leav- 
 ing Bali behind, we went on our way, and though 
 
 67 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 we passed other islands, it was getting too dark to 
 see them. 
 
 It was our last night on board the Mataram, 
 and we felt quite sorry to leave it and our kind 
 and courteous captain. 
 
 68 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 JAVA LANDING AT SOURABAYA 
 
 JAVA derives its name from the Sanscrit word 
 Yava, meaning rich in millet or barley, and is the 
 important island of the Dutch East Indies, it is 
 also the richest, most populous, and one of the 
 most beautiful islands of the world; for this reason 
 it has been styled " The Garden of the East/' 
 and the Malays call it " The Pearl of the East." 
 The Portuguese were the first to discover its 
 value, and gained a footing there in the sixteenth 
 century, but they were not left long in undisputed 
 possession; the Dutch followed them, and, estab- 
 lishing trading stations along the coast, soon sup- 
 planted the Portuguese, and encroaching still 
 further into the interior, annexed more and more 
 country till the whole island was practically under 
 their control in 1808, and absolutely so in 1825, 
 when the last rebellious native ruler was subju- 
 gated. Java belonged to England from 1811- 
 1816, the British having taken possession of the 
 
 69 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 island when Holland was united to France under 
 Napoleon. During those years, under the 
 strong, judicious and humane rule of Sir Stam- 
 ford Raffles, the natives were well governed and 
 the island prosperous. It was a thousand pities 
 that England gave up such a beautiful and valu- 
 able possession, but it was given back to Holland 
 when Napoleon fell. The ; Dutch returned and 
 installed themselves, showing greater energy than 
 ever, and the natives had a very hard time under 
 the severe discipline known as the ' culture 
 system/' of which I shall speak later. But those 
 times are now over, and the natives seem con- 
 tented and happy under Dutch rule. 
 
 Java is a long, narrow island (666 miles long 
 and varying in width from 46 to 126 miles) near 
 Sumatra and Borneo; the clear waters of the sea 
 of Java wash its northern coast, which is low and 
 swampy, covered with mangrove trees and over- 
 grown with rank vegetation down to the water's 
 edge. In contrast to this, the south coast rises 
 rocky and precipitous, and at the base of its high 
 cliffs the surf of the Indian Ocean continually 
 breaks. East and west the straits of Bali and 
 Sunda respectively divide it from the islands of 
 the same name. It is not so difficult to gain access 
 
 70 
 
JAVA LANDING AT SOURABAYA 
 
 to Java now as it was when Miss Scidmore 
 visited it many years ago, but still there are 
 a good many rules and regulations to be 
 complied with. You cannot remain on shore 
 at any port more than twenty-four hours 
 without registering your name, age, religion, 
 nationality, place of birth, occupation, and name 
 and captain of the ship you came in, and you must 
 state your object in visiting Java. The authori- 
 ties being satisfied on all these points, you will 
 receive a permit or passport called a Toelatings- 
 Kart, and will be free of the country unless you 
 wish to shoot big game or indulge in any other 
 sort of sport, when an extra permit must be 
 obtained. The money in use in Java is the same 
 as in the Netherlands, though the design on the 
 coins of lesser value is different. A silver guilder 
 is the standard coin, its value being is. 8d. in 
 English money, so that twelve guilders equal an 
 English i sterling. The smaller coins are the 
 half guilder = lod. ; quarter guilder = 5d. ; a silver 
 piece worth 2d. and a stuiver worth one penny, but 
 English sovereigns are accepted everywhere. At 
 most of the hotels and in the bigger shops in the 
 towns English (of a kind) is spoken, but those 
 who know Dutch and Malay have a great advan- 
 
 7V 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 tage, especially those knowing the latter lan- 
 guage. 
 
 As a rule, the traveller visits Java from Singa- 
 pore, and lands first at Batavia on the west, but 
 as we were coming from Australia we came in at 
 the opposite end of the island, and arrived first 
 at Sourabaya. The only disadvantage in so 
 doing is that you get all the more characteristic 
 and distinctively Javanese sights at the beginning 
 of your trip. 
 
 Our ship was now about to enter the roadstead 
 outside Sourabaya; in the distance there appeared 
 what looked like a huge Noah's ark in the midst of 
 a sandy waste. 
 
 The captain told us it was a lighthouse, and 
 that the sea covered the sand at high tide. What 
 appeared like the boat part of the ark proved to be 
 in reality a broad verandah, adorned with gaily- 
 coloured flowers and plants in pots, the whole 
 effect being most quaint. I rushed for my camera 
 to get a snapshot, but when I returned with it we 
 were already far away, and the lighthouse came 
 out as a tiny speck in an expanse of sea and 
 sand. The pilot's arrival on board warned 
 us that our voyage was almost ended, and 
 we followed the, example of our fellow passengers 
 
 72 
 
JAVA LANDING AT SOURABAYA 
 
 and hastened to get our luggage ready. The 
 Mataram (in common with all other big ships) 
 had to anchor a considerable distance from 
 the landing-stage, and in the absence of a steam 
 launch, which was not provided by the Company, 
 our entry into Sourabaya had to be made in a 
 sampan or native boat, not unlike a punt, but with 
 an awning to keep off sun and rain. We were 
 expecting a guide to meet us, as we had asked for 
 one to be in readiness, but the moment the ship 
 anchored such a crowd of coolies and Malays 
 swarmed up the gangways, all shouting and 
 jabbering in an unknown tongue, that it was a per- 
 fect Pandemonium, and we could not make our- 
 selves heard, much less understood. Some of 
 the passengers managed to get sampans and de- 
 parted. We were endeavouring to follow their 
 example, as we had given up all hope of finding 
 our guide, when an agent of the Burns Philp 
 Company, who spoke English, came to our rescue 
 and got us a sampan. Some portion of our lug- 
 gage had been placed in this boat, and we were 
 half-way down the gangway, intending to get in 
 beside it, when we were arrested by the most pierc- 
 ing shrieks and yells, and to our horror, we saw a 
 Government launch coming swiftly round from 
 
 73 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 the other side of the steamer. Without the 
 slightest warning, it crashed into the little waiting 
 sampans, smashing most of them, and reducing 
 our particular one to matchwood. Imagine our 
 consternation at seeing our precious belongings 
 tossing about in the sea ! We gave them up for 
 lost, but fortunately the wash from the launch 
 carried them up against the side of our ship, and 
 the smart, nimble-fingered coolies managed in 
 some marvellous manner to retrieve them, and 
 threw them into the one sampan that had miracu- 
 lously escaped the general destruction. It was 
 the cleverest thing I had ever seen, not excepting 
 conjuring tricks, and the whole episode was over 
 in a couple of minutes. But even the brief immer- 
 sion of a few seconds had made our luggage 
 thoroughly wet, and the contents of trunks and 
 bags were in a deplorable condition when we un- 
 packed them in Sourabaya. The excitement 
 caused by this episode was immense, and many 
 were the expressions of sympathy we received from 
 the lookers on. Finally, with the agent's help, 
 we got another and larger sampan, and with all 
 our belongings, both wet and dry, we set out for 
 land. This delay, however, had allowed the 
 already threatening clouds to gather thickly in 
 
 74 
 
JAVA LANDING AT SOURABAYA 
 
 the sky, and half way to shore, to add to our dis- 
 comfort, a heavy thunderstorm, accompanied by a 
 deluge of rain, came on. Sea and sky seemed 
 indeed to have conspired against us, and we were 
 soon as wet as our immersed luggage, in spite of 
 the awning of our boat, which evidently served 
 the purpose of a sunshade better than that of an 
 umbrella. 
 
 We were profoundly thankful, when we at last 
 reached our destination and could step on shore, 
 to feel we had said good-bye to the sea for some 
 weeks, at all events. 
 
 We got our luggage through the Customs with- 
 out the slightest trouble; the Customhouse 
 Authorities at Sourabaya were most polite, and 
 showed their discrimination by not worrying us 
 about our belongings, whereby friction was 
 avoided and much time saved. When we 
 emerged from the Customhouse we found outside 
 some strange looking vehicles, something like 
 dog-carts, with a canopy overhead, but the seats 
 and the bottom of the car almost on a level, so that 
 instead of the feet hanging down as in an ordinary 
 dog-cart, you had perforce to stretch them out 
 before you. Two passengers can sit behind with 
 their backs to the back of the driver, whence the 
 
 75 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 name sados, a corruption of dos a dos. The 
 whole of the front seat is occupied by the driver, 
 and he needs it, as he flourishes his whip 
 and gesticulates with his arms in a rather alarming 
 fashion. There are more comfortable carriages 
 called " Kosongs," four wheelers, and generally 
 drawn by a pair of horses, but these had been 
 snapped up by the passengers who had preceded 
 us, so it was a case of Hobson's choice. My 
 brother and the agent took one sados and drove off 
 to the Bank to obtain the all important money and 
 necessary passports. My sister-in-law and I were 
 hoisted (I can use no other term) into a second, 
 and whirled away to our hotel at a terrific pace; for 
 the drivers in Java simply tear along as fast as 
 possible without the slightest regard for the lives 
 or limbs of pedestrians. These latter seemed 
 quite accustomed to the Jehu-like propensities of 
 Javanese coachmen, and showed considerable 
 agility in skipping out of the way. As for us, we 
 just held on like grim death to the sides of the 
 vehicle, for as we knew no Malay and he no Eng- 
 lish, we could not make our driver go more slowly. 
 Except that we had the name of our hotel we were 
 completely at his mercy; he could take us where 
 he liked; it gave me the most curious feeling of 
 
 76 
 
JAVA LANDING AT SOURABAYA 
 
 helplessness I had ever experienced. This rapid 
 rate of progress was the more annoying, as we 
 were soon passing through most fascinating scenes 
 of Javanese life, and we would have given anything 
 to stop and look at them, or even pass them by 
 more slowly. 
 
 The wharf at Sourabaya is situated like most 
 docks in a very unaristocratic part of the town, and 
 we had to drive a long way before reaching the 
 Dutch residential quarter, where the best hotels 
 are to be found, as well as the finest houses. At 
 first we skirted the canal, passing the huge build- 
 ings belonging to the dockyards which lined one 
 side of the road, as well as some very ugly, small 
 ones. The boats in the canal looked most pic- 
 turesque with their wooden roofs painted in 
 various colours, their striped sails and brightly- 
 decorated prows; the effect was very gay. We 
 then turned a corner so suddenly that we were 
 nearly jerked into the road, and found ourselves 
 opposite a big, ancient-looking building shaded by 
 beautiful trees; this we learnt later was the <l Prins 
 Hendrik," an old fort no longer in use. Another 
 turn and we were in a narrow street teeming with 
 Oriental life, with Chinese and Javanese shops or 
 bazaars on either side. These latter seemed full 
 
 77 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 of quaint and unknown things, as far as could be 
 seen during our rapid transit, but we could only 
 catch glimpses of these marvels. The thorough- 
 fare was crowded with a motley collection of 
 Malays, Javanese, Chinese, Negroes and even 
 Arabs conspicuous in their long, white garments; 
 in fact, all sorts and conditions of men and women 
 were represented, all dressed in the costume of 
 their country, making a wonderful kaleidoscopic 
 scene. 
 
 The Chinese were mostly dressed in white or 
 blue linen jacket and trousers, their long pigtails 
 plaited with red silk hanging down their backs; 
 the Javanese were clad in the native costume of 
 sarong and kabaja worn by men and women alike. 
 
 The sarong is a long, straight piece of native 
 cloth, very wide, painted in various designs and 
 different colours, blue, red and brown being the 
 most common; on one side there is a border, and 
 in certain parts of Java the sarong has a panel of 
 more elaborate design than the rest of the piece. 
 This cloth is worn round the body from the waist 
 to the feet, forming a kind of petticoat or skirt, 
 and when there is a panel this comes to the front; 
 the whole is kept in place by a belt of thick ribbon. 
 Over this is worn the Kabaja (or kabaia) , a loose 
 
 78 
 
JAVA LANDING AT SOURABAYA 
 
 jacket, generally of a bright colour, fastened, in 
 the women's case, with three little silver brooches 
 connected by chains of the same metal. * When 
 the men are doing any hard work they take off this 
 jacket, leaving the upper part of the body bare. 
 So far the dress is alike for both sexes, but the 
 women wear in addition a slendang, which is a 
 broad sash of cloth similar in kind to the sarong, 
 but not necessarily the same colour. This is put 
 on so as to pass under one arm and fasten on the 
 opposite shoulder with the ends hanging down at 
 the back, a little after the fashion in which some 
 Highlanders wear the plaid. The slendang 
 serves the Javanese woman as a pocket or carry- 
 all, and is a most capacious one; often you will see 
 peeping out of its voluminous folds the downy, 
 black head of a Javanese baby. The slendang 
 is a mark of respectability, without it no self-re- 
 specting Javanese female would be seen abroad. 
 The women wear no covering on their heads, but 
 the men invariably have a turban composed of a 
 square piece of the same cloth as the sarong, folded 
 round the head in a particularly neat way, and 
 finished off with a curious knot, the ends forming 
 
 * See cover of book. 
 
 79 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 a loop each side like cats' ears. All this of course 
 we learnt later. 
 
 The strangest sight of all, and one that never 
 lost its interest during our stay in Java, was the 
 native carrier. At the ends of a bamboo pole, 
 the middle of which rests on his shoulders, he 
 carries every conceivable thing. Sometimes deep 
 baskets containing fruit and vegetables, or flat 
 ones with fish and native food, are fixed to each 
 end ; at other times huge bundles of fodder for the 
 bullocks and horses; or at the end of one pole will 
 hang a primitive charcoal stove, and at the other 
 a basket with eatables ready to be cooked when 
 required. It is marvellous what heavy weights 
 can be carried in this way; even bricks for building 
 purposes, quite a huge pile being balanced in a 
 hod or basket at each end of the pole. We passed 
 many motors and numerous bicycles, also well- 
 appointed carriages drawn by very good horses, 
 generally in pairs. In some of the carriages, re- 
 clining at ease, were richly dressed Chinamen, as 
 a great number of the Celestials living in Soura- 
 baya, and indeed in most of the towns in Java, are 
 exceedingly wealthy, and live in good style in 
 beautiful houses, waited on by Javanese or Malay 
 servants. 
 
 80 
 
NATIVE CARRIER, JAVA 
 
JAVA LANDING AT SOURABAYA 
 
 From the narrow street we emerged into a 
 square, caught a glimpse of a market, and then 
 entered a broad avenue, the Simpang Road, 
 shaded on either side by tjemara trees. Here 
 were some fine shops and one of the best cafes in 
 the Dutch East Indies Grimm's Restaurant. 
 We continued our way at the same break-neck 
 speed, passing under the beautiful trees and noting 
 some fine public buildings, till we finally, after a 
 drive of more than an hour, rattled into the open 
 space in front of the Simpang Hotel. 
 
 This hotel is considered the best in Sourabaya, 
 and is always full; just then it was more crowded 
 than usual on account of the nearness of the Easter 
 holidays. Fortunately we had secured rooms by 
 cabling, at half-a-crown a word, from Thursday 
 Island, or we should not have got in. Some of 
 our fellow passengers were not so lucky, and had 
 considerable difficulty in finding accommodation 
 anywhere, though there are two or three other 
 excellent hotels in Sourabaya besides the Hotel' 
 Simpang. Our host, who appeared at the 
 entrance to welcome us, spoke English well. He 
 explained as he conducted us to our rooms that 
 he much regretted he could not give us the two 
 bedrooms we required close together, but it was 
 impossible as the place was so full. 
 
 81 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 Hotel Simpang was quite unlike any building I 
 had seen hitherto, and consisted of a large, one- 
 storied house in the centre, with a number of 
 smaller houses or bungalows, built at a little dis- 
 tance round three sides of it, the whole covering a 
 considerable tract of ground. These smaller 
 buildings contained bedrooms, bathrooms, kit- 
 chens, and various offices, while the central build- 
 ing had the dining-room and larger bedrooms. 
 The various bungalows are connected with each 
 other and with the principal house by narrow 
 paved or concrete passages covered overhead with 
 galvanized iron, but open at the sides, and slightly 
 raised to escape the damp of the ground in wet 
 weather. The spaces between the passages are 
 filled with soft gravel which you can walk across 
 if you like, but it is not so pleasant as on the path- 
 ways. We were taken along a very wide 
 verandah to an immense room in the main building 
 which had been reserved for my brother and his 
 wife. All the rooms, both large and small, open 
 on to the verandah, and that portion immediately 
 in front of each room is reserved as a sitting-room 
 for the occupant, and furnished with table, chairs 
 and footstools, and has a brilliant overhanging 
 light. There is no drawing-room or lounge in 
 
 82 
 
JAVA LANDING AT SOURABAYA 
 
 Javanese hotels, the verandah answers the pur- 
 pose. The great drawback to this arrangement is 
 its publicity, for the outer part of the verandah 
 is a thoroughfare, and forms the only means of 
 access to the various rooms, so that people are 
 always passing and repassing. We entered the 
 bedroom through a door which had two leaves, 
 like a folding door, but which was not continued 
 the whole way to the ceiling, in order that a cur- 
 rent of air might pass at the top and keep the room 
 cool ; a wooden bar secures this door inside. The 
 window had only shutters, no glass; and the 
 shutters are nearly always closed to keep the room 
 dark and therefore cool in the daytime, but at 
 night the electric light brilliantly illuminates the 
 interior. The room contained two huge four-post 
 beds, about seven or eight feet square; no blankets 
 or counterpane, but each had a sheet tightly 
 stretched across the mattress, a couple of ordinary 
 pillows in white pillow cases, and a long one like 
 a bolster which is called a " Dutch wife." It 
 is supposed to assuage your sufferings from the 
 heat, either by being used as a support for your 
 feet, thus allowing the air to play round you, or 
 else, when there seems to be no air, to be kicked 
 about as a relief to your feverish feelings. A 
 
 83 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 white canopy at the top and mosquito curtains all 
 round completed the equipment. The floor was 
 stone or concrete, so that no insect might find 
 lodgment, and quite bare except for some narrow 
 strips of matting alongside the beds. The rest of 
 the furniture consisted of a large wardrobe of dark 
 wood fitted with shelves, a square table in the 
 middle of the room, smaller ones by each bed, a 
 washstand with looking-glass on the wall above 
 it, so that it did duty as dressing-table as well, and 
 two really respectable sized jugs and basins. 
 These last were a pleasant surprise, for we had 
 been told to expect nothing larger than a sugar 
 bowl and cream jug. There were two or three 
 chairs and a fairly high screen covered with some 
 sort of tapestry, with hooks on the side next the 
 room on which to hang your garments. This 
 screen was very necessary to protect the interior 
 of the room from prying eyes, as the doors are 
 generally left open for the sake of coolness. 
 Wherever we went in Java we found the same style 
 of bed and room, larger or smaller as the case 
 might be; the only exception was at Buitenzorg 
 in the Hotel Bellevue, where the rooms were car- 
 peted all over and furnished more in European 
 style. After inspecting this apartment and seeing 
 
 84 
 
JAVA LANDING AT SOURABAYA 
 
 the luggage deposited therein, we were conducted 
 along several of the outside passages until we 
 came to a little courtyard planted with shady trees, 
 where was a small building containing two bed- 
 rooms, one of which was allotted to me. The 
 other I was pleased to find was to be occupied by 
 a young lady, a fellow passenger, who, being also 
 separated from her party, was equally relieved to 
 have me as neighbour; for this court and building 
 were rather isolated, and evidently formed one of 
 the outside boundaries of the Simpang ground, a 
 high wall dividing one side of the court from the 
 public road. The verandah outside each room 
 was arranged in a similar manner to that in the 
 larger building, and furnished with table and 
 chairs, but was far pleasanter, as, being a sort of 
 cul-de-sac, there were no passers by. This was 
 a decided advantage, as it gives you rather a shock 
 to find your passage along the verandah barred by 
 the naked feet of a portly Dutchman who spends 
 the greater part of his afternoon outside his bed- 
 room extended at full length in his lounge chair 
 smoking and reading, dressed only in pyjamas, his 
 feet, guiltless of socks or shoes, stretched out on 
 the movable pieces of wood attached to the arms of 
 the chair. He and such like gentlemen take up 
 
 85 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 much more than their legitimate room, and are 
 so lazy that they will scarcely take the trouble to 
 move their feet to allow you to pass; such an effect 
 has a tropical climate on European manners! 
 
 In spite of our interest in the newness and 
 strangeness of our surroundings, we could not any 
 longer ignore the pangs of hunger. It was now 3 
 o'clock, and we had tasted nothing since our 
 breakfast on board ship. The riz tavel or midday 
 meal was, of course, over, but the manager of the 
 hotel had an excellent repast ready for us and 
 some of our fellow passengers, soon after 3 
 o'clock, and we were quite ready for it. The 
 meal was quite ordinary and European, soup, 
 meat, vegetables, and what looked like blanc- 
 mange, also some sort of stewed fruit, and then 
 cheese, butter and biscuits. Any of the ordinary 
 mineral waters, and wine and spirits, can be 
 obtained, but the water in Sourabaya is excellent, 
 as it is brought in pipes from the Kasri-springs 
 on the slope of the Ardjoens. 
 
 My brother returned from his successful quest 
 for money and passports just in time to join us. 
 It was fortunate we were given such a substantial 
 late luncheon, as, though you get afternoon tea in 
 Java, it is tea pure and simple, with nothing to 
 
 86 
 
JAVA LANDING AT SOURABAYA 
 
 eat, and is brought to each person separately on a 
 little tray and placed on the table in the verandah 
 outside his room. As dinner is never served 
 before 8.30 and often not till 9 o'clock p.m., we 
 should have been in a desperate condition, as we 
 had had no time to supply ourselves with biscuits. 
 We took care to provide ourselves with a good 
 stock of these later, when we knew more about 
 Javanese customs. You can buy a great variety 
 of biscuits, even Huntley and Palmer's, in all the 
 big towns in Java, and I should strongly advise 
 the traveller to have two or three small tins of 
 these as part of his luggage; they will be found 
 most useful, and in some places really necessary, 
 for instance in outlying districts and upon the 
 mountains where the bread is not very good. We 
 should have liked to go out and explore, but were 
 obliged to spend the rest of the afternoon in un- 
 packing and endeavouring to dry our wet gar- 
 ments, to which the Java sea had been so unkind. 
 We found that not only were the clothes soaked, 
 but unhappily the red in a shawl, which was in 
 one of my sister-in-law's boxes, in close proximity 
 to some of her best wearing apparel, had proved 
 untrustworthy, and the colour had run, and 
 Joseph's renowned coat could not have been more 
 
 87 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 particoloured than some of her unlucky garments, 
 which were of course completely spoiled. Those 
 that had escaped the crimson stain were horribly 
 sticky with the salt water, and if not of washing 
 material were quite unwearable. It was most 
 annoying, to be obliged to spend the time in this 
 unpleasant but necessary task, when we were 
 longing to see more of Sourabaya. 
 
 The guide engaged for us by Burns Philp 
 arrived to be interviewed, but he was neither so 
 satisfactory nor so pleasant in his manner as the 
 one who brought us ashore. The latter was a 
 Eurasian, whereas the new guide was Dutch, and 
 spoke English better than he understood it. I 
 came to this conclusion as he never seemed able to 
 answer our questions properly, his replies being 
 either vague and unsatisfactory or else wide of the 
 mark, nor did he ever attempt to explain things. 
 He was also much too fine a gentleman for our 
 purpose; he never offered to relieve us of coat or 
 umbrella, and if anything was handed to him to 
 carry he immediately passed it on to a coolie. The 
 Dutch, and indeed all Europeans in Java, con- 
 sider it derogatory to their dignity to carry the 
 smallest thing, or even to open the door of a room 
 or carriage, these menial offices being performed 
 
 88 
 
JAVA LANDING AT SOURABAYA 
 
 by Malay or Javanese coolies. All this guide did 
 for us, therefore, was to translate at railway 
 stations and hotels, and make the natives do our 
 bidding, and for this he was paid IDS. a day and 
 all his expenses! It is not easy to get guides of 
 any kind, but the best to employ are Eurasians, 
 who generally know Dutch and Malay and enough 
 English to understand all your wishes, while some 
 of them speak English well. Failing one of 
 these, it will be found quite satisfactory to hire a 
 Malay or Javanese boy, who knows sufficient Eng- 
 lish to translate your wants. They are much less 
 expensive, as you pay them a fixed sum per day 
 or week (not a quarter as much as the other guides 
 charge) , and they find their own food and lodging, 
 travel with the natives in the trains at a much 
 cheaper rate, and yet serve your purpose quite as 
 well. A party of our fellow passengers took a 
 Malay boy in this way and found him a most excel- 
 lent guide. Anyone who has a command of 
 Malay can travel through the length and breadth 
 of Java without a guide. The natives are never 
 allowed to learn or use Dutch, so that all Euro- 
 peans living in the Dutch East Indies must know 
 Malay and be able to speak it fluently. There- 
 fore for travel purposes Malay is more useful than 
 
 89 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 Dutch, though it is better to know both. The 
 dearth of competent guides is a serious drawback, 
 but this should soon be remedied, as the demand 
 is certain to create the supply. 
 
 It was the eve of Good Friday, and our guide 
 informed us that the shops would be shut and the 
 people away holiday-making from the next morn- 
 ing till the following Tuesday. That being so, 
 we thought it would be better to start early next 
 day for Tosari, and return to Sourabaya when the 
 holidays were over. For some reason of his own 
 the guide opposed this, and wished to wait, saying 
 the Sanatorium at Tosari would be so full with the 
 people who had gone there for Easter that we 
 should have great difficulty in getting accommoda- 
 tion, and he would need time to make the neces- 
 sary arrangements. My brother gave in about 
 starting next morning, but insisted on our leaving 
 on Saturday, and told the guide he must try and 
 find room for us by that time. The Sanatorium 
 at Tosari turned out to be in telegraphic communi- 
 cation with Sourabaya, so there was really no 
 difficulty, except what the guide chose to make. 
 The next day was Good Friday; there was of 
 course no English Church or service in Soura- 
 baya; all seemed to regard it just as a public 
 
 90 
 
JAVA LANDING AT SOURABAYA 
 
 holiday and day of pleasure. After breakfast we 
 got two carriages from the hotel, each holding two 
 persons, and set off to see as much as we could 
 of the town. My brother and the guide went in 
 the first carriage to show the way, and we ladies 
 followed in the second. We had been told by the 
 guide that the shops would all be shut, but to our 
 surprise we saw they were open and doing a brisk 
 trade. We tried to attract the attention of the 
 guide, but though he was supposed to be showing 
 us the sights, he never once looked round or 
 pointed out any places of interest, so we tried in 
 vain. We wanted to go to a shop and get a water- 
 proof for my brother, who would need it at Tosari, 
 as the rainy season was not yet over, but we had 
 to wait till we returned to the hotel before we could 
 get hold of the guide. He seemed surprised that 
 we did not know the shops would be open till 12 
 or i o'clock, although closed in the afternoon, and 
 rather unwillingly turned back and drove with us 
 to a fine large draper's shop, where they seemed 
 to have the latest European fashions, and my 
 brother succeeded in getting a very nice water- 
 proof coat. Not that it was much use to him; 
 whether because it was unlucky through being 
 bought on Good Friday, or for some other 
 
 91 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 mysterious reason, it disappeared next morning at 
 the railway station, and was never heard of again. 
 It was annoying! 
 
 We returned to the hotel for luncheon, or as it 
 is called " riz tavel,' or rice table, so named be- 
 cause the piece de resistance is a huge plateful of 
 rice to which are added various sorts of meat. It 
 was our first experience of it. A large soup plate 
 is set before you flanked by several little plates. 
 Plain boiled rice is brought round and you help 
 yourself. Then you are handed a number of 
 dishes one after the other, containing fish, pieces 
 of meat, stewed chicken, curry, eggs, various 
 vegetables and lots of queer looking eatables. 
 You make your choice, placing them on the little 
 plates, from which you transfer them in any order 
 you please to the soup plate, and eat them with 
 the rice. It is quite a good dish in a hotel like 
 the Simpang, and most satisfying, but in some 
 places the condiments offered to you with the rice, 
 look so strange and taste so queer that you go on 
 rejecting each in the hope of something better till 
 you find yourself with rice alone, which is not at 
 all satisfying. At the Simpang they give you also 
 boiled or fried fish, roast beef, and stewed fruits 
 of various kinds; these latter are sometimes 
 handed to eat with the meat. 
 
 92 
 
JAVA LANDING AT SOURABAYA 
 
 In Java the European spends the afternoon in 
 repose, and wakes up about four o'clock, when 
 tea is brought round to each room. From five to 
 eight o'clock is the time for driving, and the ladies 
 discard the sarong and kabaja and appear in 
 elaborate toilettes. No hats or bonnets are worn, 
 though I believe on state occasions and at concerts 
 they have some sort of headgear. In the daytime 
 a sunshade keeps the heat off, and when the sun 
 goes down they are cooler and more comfortable 
 without any covering on the head. I hear the 
 fashion in this respect is changing, and hats are 
 being worn a good deal. 
 
 I was not much inclined for repose, as every- 
 thing was so new and strange, but I thought a bath 
 would be very refreshing on such a hot afternoon. 
 I had not ventured to take one in the morning, as 
 though I saw Dutch ladies lightly garbed and 
 wearing wooden shoes emerging from the bath- 
 rooms, which were in a little pavilion by them- 
 selves, I had not the courage to cross the com- 
 pound in dressing gown and slippers, not knowing 
 what might await me, as I had heard such queer 
 stories about the bathing accommodation in Java. 
 Providing myself with towels, I set off to explore, 
 and as it was not the usual hour for bathing I had 
 
 93 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 no difficulty in finding an empty bathroom. The 
 door was fastened inside with a wooden bolt, and 
 having secured this, I gazed around me with in- 
 terest. I found myself in what at home one would 
 call a wash-house; as the big stone cistern in the 
 corner had all the appearance of a copper in which 
 to boil clothes. The floor was brick, or tiles that 
 looked like bricks, and the room was lighted from 
 the roof. A tin pail or dipper with a handle at 
 one side like a saucepan, a high wooden stool, and 
 three pegs let into the wall completed the furni- 
 ture. 
 
 I no longer wondered that the ladies wore 
 wooden shoes, and devoutly wished I had a pair 
 myself, as I realised that by the time a bath had 
 been taken Javanese fashion, that is by pouring 
 the water over you, the whole place would be a 
 swamp with not a dry spot, and you would be 
 obliged to finish your toilet standing in water, as 
 the floor did not slope enough to allow it to drain 
 off quickly as it should have done. However, 
 " necessity being the mother of invention," I 
 managed to dress standing on one foot, keeping 
 the booted one out of the wet by resting it on the 
 stool turned sideways, then putting on the final 
 stocking and shoe in the least wet place by the 
 
 94 
 
JAVA LANDING AT SOURABAYA 
 
 door, and making a rush for the latter. It was 
 difficult, but I managed to emerge fairly dry shod. 
 The bath itself was most delightful; the cold water 
 poured over one is much more refreshing and 
 cooling, and less of a shock, than getting into a 
 cold bath in the ordinary way. The same kind of 
 bath is used all over Java, and one gets not only 
 accustomed to it, but learns to prefer it. 
 
 Some funny stories are told of European tyros 
 in Javanese bathing; one, of a man who tried to 
 climb into the cistern, another of a person who 
 used the cistern as a basin, putting soap into it, 
 thereby necessitating its being completely emptied 
 before it could be used by anyone else, to the con- 
 sternation of his host, as the cisterns hold many 
 gallons of water. Occasionally you will find the 
 bathroom in close proximity to your room, one 
 being allowed for every two or three bedrooms, 
 but generally they are some distance away, and 
 sometimes, as at Hotel Bellevue in Buitenzorg, 
 near Batavia, quite a day's journey from the 
 sleeping apartments. 
 
 I returned to my room much refreshed, to find 
 tea awaiting me on the verandah outside my door, 
 and a smiling Malay engaged in beating my bed 
 and the inside of the mosquito curtains with a 
 
 95 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 broom made of twigs tied together, in order to dis- 
 lodge any mosquito or such like insect which might 
 have secreted itself in the hope of a meal. Having 
 satisfied himself that all was in order, he proceeded 
 to draw the netting closely round the bed to keep 
 the mosquitOs out. In the daytime the curtains 
 are drawn back to let in the air and looped up on 
 bamboo or bone hooks. I tried to talk to this 
 native and find out if he were Malay or Javanese, 
 but the conversation was not very satisfactory, as 
 his English and my Malay were about equal. 
 
 There are no women servants in evidence in the 
 East; all the waiting, attendance, etc., is done by 
 men, and very deftly and quickly done. 
 
 After tea I packed for Tosari, as we had to make 
 an early start next morning. We were told to re- 
 strict our luggage as much as possible, because on 
 leaving the train at Pasoeroean the remainder of 
 the journey had to be done by carriage and on 
 horseback or in sedan chairs, the luggage being 
 carried on the backs of horses or mules. The 
 dinner hour in Java is very late, 8.30 or 9 o'clock; 
 so much is eaten at the riz tavel that no one is 
 ready for it earlier. It was just an ordinary table 
 d'hote, soup, fish, meat, jellies, stewed fruit, etc. 
 There were some strange looking dishes handed 
 
 96 
 
JAVA LANDING AT SOURABAYA 
 
 round, but as I did not venture on them I can- 
 not say what they were. We had, however, one 
 new experience, in tasting for the first time that 
 most delicious and incomparable fruit, the 
 mangosteen. This fruit is about the size of a 
 Tangerine orange, but of a dark, reddish brown 
 colour, and speckled with yellow or grey; the rind 
 is very thick, and shows outside where it is divided 
 within into segments, like an orange. The in- 
 terior consists of a white, juicy substance that com- 
 bines both acidity and sweetness in its unique 
 flavour, which cannot be compared to any fruit I 
 have ever tasted; it is most like a combination of 
 strawberries or peaches and ice-cream. 
 
 The Mangosteen tree (of the natural order of 
 Guttiferae) is a native of the Molucca Islands, and 
 never exceeds more than 20 feet in height; it is 
 something like a fir tree in shape; the leaves are 
 shiny and leathery looking, and it has a large 
 flower with a corolla of four dark red petals. It 
 was introduced into Java, and is much cultivated 
 there, but is too delicate a fruit to be exported any 
 distance. We were told that quite a large sum 
 of money had been offered to anyone who would 
 manage to convey a mangosteen in good condition 
 to Holland, so that the Dutch Queen might taste 
 
 97 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 it, but so far no one has succeeded, and the reward 
 is still to be claimed. The fruit must be eaten 
 fresh, as soon after it is picked the white interior 
 begins to turn brown, and eventually shrivels and 
 dries up. Java boasts of many other delicious 
 fruits, such as the pomelo, like a green water 
 melon but pink inside; the red rambutan with a 
 prickly shell similar to a horse chestnut, but with 
 a white, juicy substance inside; the duka with a 
 leathery rind and grape-like taste; the papaya or 
 custard fruit resembling a melon, and the durian, 
 that monster fruit which is said (l to surpass in 
 flavour all the fruits of the world," but has such a 
 horrible and disgusting smell that it is never 
 allowed in the hotels, and therefore must be eaten 
 far from human habitations. The natives eat it 
 freely, and it is always on sale cut in sections in 
 their passers or markets. It is never picked, but 
 allowed to fall to the ground when ripe. Dr. 
 Ward in his Medical Topography of the Straits, 
 says : l ( Those who overcome the prejudice excited 
 by the disagreeable, fetid odour of the external 
 shell, reckon it delicious." Little children love 
 it. Besides these less well-known fruits there are 
 many others more or less familiar by importation, 
 such as the cocoanut, the banana (a universal 
 
 98 
 
JAVA LANDING AT SOURABAYA 
 
 fruit in Java, each native hut having its own 
 banana tree) , the melon, orange, lime and pine- 
 apple. The last named grows most plentifully, 
 but we were warned not to eat it as it often causes 
 fever and cholera in Europeans. But not one of 
 all these fruits can be compared with the mango- 
 steen, which is the Queen of Fruits in my opinion. 
 
 99 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 TO SARI AND THE BROMO 
 
 THERE are no night trains in Java, which is rather 
 a pity, as the gain in coolness and freedom from 
 dust would be considerable, but all the engine 
 drivers and stokers are natives and evidently the 
 Dutch consider there is less risk of accident in 
 daylight travel ; it also gives the tourist an oppor- 
 tunity of viewing the landscape, which is of 
 course an advantage. In consequence, the train 
 starts abnormally early so as to get as much of 
 the journey over before the heat of the day as 
 possible. Five o'clock a.m. is not an unusual 
 hour. I am glad to say our train was a particu- 
 larly late one, and did not leave till a quarter to 
 eight, but even this necessitated our getting up 
 soon after six in order to have our breakfast and 
 leave for the station soon after seven. We had 
 seen nothing of our guide since noon the day 
 before; he was no doubt fulfilling the engage- 
 ment which prevented him from taking us to 
 
 100 
 
TOSARI AND THE BRQMO 
 
 Tosari, as we found we could have had the same 
 rooms at the hotel there on the Friday as on the 
 Saturday. He turned up, however, to conduct 
 us to the station, whither we drove, arriving there 
 with plenty of time to spare. Here we met one 
 of our fellow passengers, Mrs. H., and her hus- 
 band, who had come to Sourabaya to meet her, 
 and take her to their home, a cable station distant 
 several hours' journey. A friend of theirs was 
 seeing them off, and they introduced him to us. 
 Later, on our return to Sourabaya, he was ex- 
 ceedingly kind in taking us about and showing us 
 hospitality. 
 
 The train was in; so we were soon seated with 
 Mr. and Mrs. H. in a first class compartment, 
 which we found quite as comfortable as any of 
 the carriages in England or on the Continent. 
 The seats were arranged in the same manner, and 
 the train was a corridor one, in the sense that all 
 the carriages communicated; but, as in Switzer- 
 land, you walked through the middle of the car- 
 riages and not through an outside passage. The 
 windows had a most ingenious arrangement of 
 fine wire blinds that kept out the dust and glare, 
 but admitted the refreshing breeze. The second 
 class carriages are also very comfortable, and 
 
 101 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 many of our fellow passengers chose them as 
 much less expensive and yet quite nice. Both 
 have restaurant cars attached, where lunch and 
 tea is provided; but though the food is fairly 
 good it is better to cater for oneself and take 
 sandwiches, biscuits and Thermos bottles of tea, 
 as we did; though, in this case, we only had to 
 make up for our early breakfast, as we were to 
 lunch at Poespo. Just before starting the water- 
 proof coat was missed, but neither search in the 
 station, nor a message sent to the Simpang Hotel, 
 in case it had been left behind, revealed its where- 
 abouts. The scenery through which we passed 
 was not only beautiful but had all the charm of 
 novelty. It was my first sight of sugar cane 
 plantations, with their feathery flowers not unlike 
 pampas grass; the rice fields, too, with the sun 
 gleaming on the water that surrounded and 
 almost covered them, were quite new to me and 
 most interesting. Trees, palms, bamboos, 
 bananas, etc., and tropical foliage flourished in 
 abundance on either side of the railway line, and 
 often one caught a glimpse of a native village 
 embowered in a perfect mass of greenery, and 
 sometimes of little, brown children running out 
 to see us pass. In about two hours we reached 
 
 1 02 
 
 

 
 INTERIOR OF THE BROMO VOLCANO 
 
TOSARI AND THE BROMO 
 
 Passoeroean, where we had to leave the train 
 and take to carriages; our friends were going on 
 for another seven or eight hours, so long a jour- 
 ney was it to their distant home at the cable 
 station. At Passoeroean, when our luggage was 
 taken out we saw, to our dismay, that our guide 
 had brought two large tin trunks, one large 
 wooden box and two bags as his share, to be taken 
 all the way to Tosari. We had been cautioned 
 to take as little as possible and had reduced ours 
 in consequence to the smallest limits, so we felt 
 much aggrieved. I suggested that he must have 
 brought all his worldly possessions with him. I 
 was only joking, but " there is many a true word 
 spoken in jest," and we found on our return, that 
 counting on a long tour with us, he had given up 
 his lodgings in Sourabaya, and brought all his 
 belongings with him. He always dressed either 
 in a white or khaki suit, putting a fresh one on 
 each day; so he required plenty of room for his 
 clothes. The station presented an animated 
 scene, and I was much amused watching the 
 natives who thronged the place, some selling 
 fresh fruit, others cakes and sweetmeats; there 
 were also vendors of queer, little paper toys, some 
 of which I bought. By this time the guide had 
 
 103 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 secured carriages, of which we had to have four. 
 They only hold two people, so two were needed 
 for ourselves, one for our guide's luggage, and 
 one for our own, into which the guide's luggage 
 overflowed. He stood and looked on giving 
 directions to the coolies, but doing nothing him- 
 self, not even offering to open the carriage door 
 for us. It was really too funny. We two ladies 
 got into the first carriage and the guide and my 
 brother into the second, and away we galloped, 
 the two other carriages following behind. We 
 drove through the most wonderful scenery along 
 roads that were just like avenues in a park, so 
 overshadowed were they by beautiful trees; 
 through the native villages or kampongs, where 
 all the inhabitants turned out to see us ; past little 
 brooks by the wayside, where the native children 
 were disporting themselves in the water ; meeting 
 natives with huge hats like umbrellas, painted a 
 brilliant blue, and also carriers with huge 
 bundles of fodder for the cattle, balanced on their 
 bamboo poles. Then the wild flowers were a 
 most delectable sight. Everywhere the land- 
 scape glowed with them, the colouring was so 
 vivid. It was a perfectly entrancing drive and 
 the air was delightful, warm but not too hot. At 
 
 104 
 
TOSARI AND THE BROMO 
 
 Pasrepan we had to change carriages, a very 
 necessary proceeding, as our horses were quite 
 exhausted owing to the rapid rate at which they 
 had been driven. They never seem to drive 
 slowly in Java, and we had come at a gallop, 
 although it had been uphill all the time. We 
 went on still ascending until we arrived at 
 Poespo, 2,600 feet above the sea level. From 
 this point, to reach Tosari, you must proceed 
 either on horseback or be carried in a sedan chair, 
 there being no carriage road. We all chose the 
 latter mode of travelling, except the guide who 
 had a horse, and five or six extra horses were 
 needed for the luggage. It is quite wonderful 
 how the natives manage to sling quite large trunks 
 by means of ropes on each side of a horse, and 
 what a weight some of these animals can carry ! 
 Their burdens wobble about in a most alarming 
 fashion and look as if they would fall off, but 
 this they never seem to do. Our guide needed 
 three horses for his luggage, the huge wooden 
 box needing a horse to itself, as being the full 
 amount for him to carry. 
 
 We had lunch before we started, and a very 
 good one ; then we set forth making quite an im- 
 posing cavalcade. Three sedan chairs with six 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 bearers to each, four to carry and two to relieve 
 at intervals, then about six or seven horses, the 
 guide riding one and the others led by natives, 
 carrying the luggage, so that we were quite a 
 large party. Our journey was all uphill, as 
 Tosari is some thousand feet higher than 
 Poespo, 6,000 feet above sea level. The scenery 
 continued to be very beautiful, and the wild 
 flowers as luxuriant as before, but gradually the 
 landscape became more open, the forests and 
 woods were left behind and replaced by fields 
 with occasional tjemari trees and what looked like 
 firs. In the fields European vegetables are cul- 
 tivated, potatoes, cabbages, onions, etc., so that 
 the land loses its tropical aspect and appears 
 barren in comparison with the exuberant vegeta- 
 tion at a lower altitude. But it was getting dusk 
 and we could see very little during the last half 
 hour of our journey; a fog also came on and the 
 air felt clammy and cold. The sedan chair is 
 quite a comfortable means of transit when you 
 are borne in it uphill; but descending you are 
 shaken to pieces and your poor bones rattled over 
 the stones at a most terrific pace, especially when 
 the bearers keep step. On reaching Tosari we 
 found it was impossible to obtain accommodation 
 
 1 06 
 
TOSARI AND THE BROMO 
 
 at the Sanatorium ; it was full up with visitors for 
 the Easter holidays, so we were taken about one 
 hundred yards higher up, to a kind of annexe, 
 not nearly so comfortable or well furnished. At 
 the Sanatorium proper, there are separate little 
 pavilions, such as we had at the Hotel des Indes 
 in Batavia, and in Tosari pretty gardens surround 
 these and there are excellent tennis courts and 
 croquet lawns. On a lofty terrace was our rather 
 primitive hotel, consisting of one-storied wooden 
 buildings erected round three sides of a square 
 or courtyard, on the fourth was a wide flight of 
 stone steps, giving the only means of access to 
 this veritable eyrie. The accommodation was 
 plain, even rough, and the food very bad. 
 Lamps or candles were the only illumination. 
 The steps did not seem to present any difficulty 
 to our bearers, and they ran up them with the 
 sedan chairs, glad to lay their burden down in 
 the courtyard. The horses also climbed them as 
 a matter of course, and seemed quite accustomed 
 to walking upstairs. A narrow verandah ran 
 round the building, the rooms opening on to it, 
 as well as on to a wider verandah the other side 
 from which you looked down into the valley 
 below. At the top of the square facing the steps 
 
 107 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 was the dining room, a bare looking place, with 
 a long table down the middle; a door opposite 
 to the one by which we came in gave access to a 
 balcony, furnished with tables and chairs, from 
 which a magnificent view can be obtained; at 
 night you can see from it the twinkling lights in 
 the Sanatorium below. The bedrooms were 
 small but the beds as usual enormous. No 
 mosquito curtains adorned them, none were 
 needed, and there were blankets, as that altitude 
 allows you to sleep between the bedclothes in- 
 stead of on the top of them. The cold was 
 intense, but the air was deliciously fresh and pure 
 after the hot, suffocating atmosphere of Soura- 
 baya. We were glad of all the warm wraps we 
 had brought, and also thankful for spirit lamp 
 and kettle, so that we could make hot tea and 
 have it with biscuits to supplement the meagre 
 fare provided. Dinner was served soon after 
 our arrival, but was not a success from our point 
 of view. There were a good many visitors, most 
 of them, like ourselves, unable to get into the 
 Sanatorium, and yet obliged to make the expe- 
 dition then or miss it altogether. Two of the visi- 
 tors were fellow passengers, Mr. and Mrs. B., and 
 they had come up the day before, as we should 
 
 1 08 
 
TOSARI AND THE BROMO 
 
 have done, and had already made the excursion 
 to the Bromo. Late that night, when I stepped 
 from my room on to the outer verandah and lean- 
 ing on the railing, that was the only barrier 
 between me and the depths beneath, gazed on the 
 scene before me, I was filled with wonder and 
 admiration, together with a sense of awe and 
 mystery surpassing any feeling of the kind ever 
 inspired by the mountains in Switzerland. It 
 was moonlight, and the mountains with their 
 numerous peaks stood out vividly bathed in light, 
 in striking contrast to the dark lurking shadows, 
 intensified in places to an inky blackness which 
 filled the gorges and ravines dividing them. 
 Between them and me lay a valley in which 
 nestled small, brown houses ; these, and the steep, 
 rocky path leading down to them through trees 
 and flowers were all glorified and idealized by 
 the beautiful moonbeams. There all was calm 
 and quietness, the natives were evidently 
 wrapped in slumber, as no lights were visible. 
 But up above where I stood, the atmosphere 
 seemed to lack that serenity and peace, which the 
 night and the deep stillness that brooded over 
 everything should have brought, and which one 
 expects to experience in the mountains. Nature 
 
 109 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 seemed to be in a waiting, listening mood, as if 
 expecting or fearing something. One felt some- 
 how that here the " Everlasting Hills " were not 
 so much the symbols of the protecting strength of 
 the God of Nature as of His power and wrath. 
 They seemed, those outwardly cold, lifeless- 
 looking peaks which you knew were full internally 
 of raging burning fire, the personification of 
 baneful demons longing to let loose their powers 
 and carry havoc and desolation into the quiet 
 valley below. The spirit of evil seemed abroad 
 wrestling with the spirit of peace; one could no 
 longer wonder that the natives in these volcanic 
 regions worship, and try to propitiate, the death- 
 dealing mountains, and regard them as the home 
 of wicked spirits. These thoughts came un- 
 bidden as I stood and looked, and I felt I would 
 not have missed for any consideration that won- 
 derful and never-to-be-forgotten sight. Before 
 I went back to my room the impression of evil 
 seemed to pass and the spirit of peace to prevail ; 
 then I remembered it was Easter Eve, in fact, 
 Easter Day had dawned. 
 
 The next day was glorious, the sun shone 
 brightly and the air was crisp and invigorating. 
 After breakfast I went out on the balcony adjoin- 
 
 no 
 
TOSARI AND THE BROMO 
 
 ing the dining-room to see the view, which was a 
 most extensive one. Far away in the distance 
 you could just discern the water of the Strait of 
 Madura, which sparkled as it caught the sun's 
 rays ; in the plains beneath were rice fields almost 
 covered with water and numerous lakes or ponds 
 all glittering in the sunshine. On the edge of 
 the slopes just below, and all around, were here 
 and there Tenggerese kampongs or native vil- 
 lages, with their queer shaped houses, sometimes 
 perched on a mountain ridge in a seemingly 
 perilous position. On the left rose tall and 
 majestic, three huge mountains, Penanggoengan, 
 in the shape of a sugar-loaf, the " many crested " 
 Ardjoena with its five peaks, and Kawi with three 
 summits. A chain of volcanic mountains runs 
 the whole length of Java from West to East; 
 some of them are extinct but many are still active 
 like Smeroe and the Bromo, others after slum- 
 bering for years may suddenly burst forth as the 
 Kloet did in 1901, plunging the surrounding 
 country for 200 miles into darkness and killing a 
 few Europeans and over a hundred natives, be- 
 sides destroying the rice and sugar crops. 
 
 I had to tear myself away from the entrancing 
 prospect, as we had planned an excursion to a 
 
 in 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 place called Ngadirono, among the Tengger 
 Mountains, where they grow all the fresh vege- 
 tables and some of the fruits for Sourabaya. 
 Mrs. B., our fellow passenger on the Mataram, 
 strongly advised us to go. She and her husband 
 had been and enjoyed it immensely. I was 
 amused, however, to find she chiefly recom- 
 mended it as a place where you got good bread 
 and delicious butter. The butter in Java as a 
 rule leaves much to be desired, so that it is a treat 
 to get any that could be termed delicious, and 
 evidently this exception had made a deep impres- 
 sion on her. The Javanese never use either milk 
 or butter, dislike it in fact, and value the cow 
 merely as a beast of burden. I presume, there- 
 fore, they are not skilled in butter-making, which 
 probably accounts for the rancid taste most of 
 the butter which is supplied in the hotels has, 
 together with the extreme difficulty of keeping 
 such a perishable article fresh in very hot weather. 
 We left the hotel about 10 a.m., my sister-in-law 
 in a sedan chair, my brother, the guide and my- 
 self, on foot. I don't think the guide liked this 
 arrangement, he would have preferred to ride, 
 but it was only about three miles and it did not 
 seem worth while, though in fact it was a stiff 
 
 112 
 
TOSARI AND THE BROMO 
 
 climb. First we descended, passing through the 
 kampong, which seemed full of natives, men, 
 women, and children, especially the latter, and 
 then down a precipitous path to the bank of a 
 small river, which just then was a rushing torrent 
 on account of recent rains. Over this we went on 
 large stepping stones and climbed a steep ascent 
 on the other side. Here we paused a moment to 
 rest and view the prospect. 
 
 Far down below was the little river or moun- 
 tain torrent; we could trace its course for some 
 distance and see where it formed quite a big 
 waterfall when it plunged from the heights into 
 this valley. On either side of it were precipitous 
 slopes traversed by narrow pathways. Perched 
 on the top in little groups were the curious look- 
 ing houses of the Tenggerese ; for we were in the 
 heart of the Tengger Mountains, in the strong- 
 hold of that strange Javanese tribe, which has re- 
 mained true to its old religion, half heathen, half 
 Brahman. At the fall of Madjapahit, the men 
 of this tribe fled to these then almost inaccessible 
 mountains, and here they have lived ever since, a 
 people apart, marrying only amongst themselves, 
 worshipping Shiva, and greatly addicted to 
 animistic practices. In number they are about 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 five or six thousand, and own about fifty villages 
 scattered about on the Tengger slopes. They 
 are shorter, stronger, and of a darker colour than 
 the people of the plains, of an industrious dis- 
 position and well skilled in the tillage of the land, 
 they make the utmost use of every available spot 
 for their sowing and planting, even of places so 
 precipitous that it seems incredible that anything 
 less agile than a monkey could have gained a 
 footing on them. Goats with little tinkling bells 
 are found wandering about near their kampongs, 
 generally in charge of a small boy, who tethers 
 them where the grass is greenest and most juicy, 
 changing their pasture as often as he thinks fit. 
 Their houses are square or oblong in shape, and 
 built of bamboo, with thatched roofs. Formerly 
 they were made of wood, when that commodity 
 was more plentiful than it is at present; they 
 have no windows but each has a door that faces 
 the Bromo Crater, which they worship. They 
 believe that within it a demon or evil spirit dwells, 
 who must at all costs be propitiated by offerings, 
 now, only of fruit or grain and occasionally a 
 fowl ; but in days gone by human sacrifices were 
 offered. Every year in the month of May a 
 grand sacrificial feast is held, and the people 
 
 114 
 
TOSARI AND THE BROMO 
 
 come in thousands from far and near, camping 
 out on the sea of sand that surrounds the vol- 
 cano. Then at the appointed time they ascend 
 the mountain by a specially made staircase, which 
 is renewed each year, and having gained the 
 summit they cast their oblations into the demon's 
 home, or, in other words, into the crater's mouth. 
 Leaving the river behind, we made our way along 
 a road which sloped gently upwards, passing 
 fields of potatoes, onions, carrots, and other 
 European vegetables. There were no rice fields ; 
 the Tenggerese say that the cultivation of rice is 
 forbidden by their religion, which shows how 
 astute their ancient priests were in making a virtue 
 of necessity, as rice will not grow so high up on 
 the mountains. Low hedges of thorn sometimes 
 bordered our path, and at their foot grew the 
 familiar dandelion and nettle, as well as wild 
 violets, forget-me-nots and sorrel. The Alpine 
 edelweiss and rhododendron are also found in 
 these regions, but we did not happen to see any ; 
 at this altitude most of the plants and flowers of 
 the temperate zone grow freely. Here and there 
 we noticed tall tjemara or pine trees, but the 
 natives in their zeal for the cultivation of the 
 ground, have cleared nearly all the forests, and 
 
 "5 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 the Government has had to come to the rescue 
 and plant young trees to supply the place of those 
 so ruthlessly cut down. The air was beautifully 
 clear and fresh and I greatly enjoyed the walk. 
 Our road now began to descend a little, and soon 
 we found ourselves on a wide plateau where a 
 fine hotel had been erected. It was surrounded 
 by gardens and lawns, while the slopes imme- 
 diately below had been turned into market 
 gardens, planted with all kinds of vegetables and 
 some fruit, and from here Sourabaya is supplied 
 with these necessary articles of diet, which are 
 carried down on stout mountain ponies to 
 Pasoeroean, and thence by train to the big towns. 
 It was a charming hotel and most beautifully 
 clean ; indeed one is always struck by the extreme 
 cleanliness and order prevailing everywhere in 
 Java. I heard, however, that this does not apply 
 to the inside of the native houses, especially in 
 the Tengger regions, where water is scarce and 
 the climate cool. But the Government evidently 
 takes care that all the approaches to the dwellings 
 are kept free from extraneous matter, and the 
 hotels everywhere are patterns of Dutch cleanli- 
 ness. The landlord came out to greet us and 
 welcomed us with effusion to Ngadirono. He 
 
 116 
 
TOSARI AND THE BROMO 
 
 provided us with an excellent lunch, the bread 
 and especially the butter exceeding our expecta- 
 tions, and more than justifying Mrs. B.'s 
 enconiums. After lunch we wandered about the 
 garden and had tea in a delightful arbour. The 
 walls of this sylvan retreat were formed by a 
 thick hedge, something like box, over which roses 
 climbed in profusion ; it was open to the sky over- 
 head and furnished with comfortable, rustic seats. 
 There were wooden summerhouses also and a 
 good grass tennis court. We sat here some time 
 and enjoyed the fragrant perfume of the many 
 flowers that filled the air, and then we sauntered 
 down to inspect more closely the vegetable 
 gardens and watch the natives at work. There 
 was a fine view also of the surrounding country. 
 It was then time to return, but we were deter- 
 mined not to leave without some of the excellent 
 butter, and offered to buy some. At first we were 
 refused on the score that there was none to spare, 
 but eventually we secured one pound, for which 
 we had to pay the exorbitant price of four 
 shillings. But it was put up daintily in a beauti- 
 ful glass jar with a lid, and as it kept quite good 
 and added much to our comfort for more than a 
 week, we did not grudge the money, though it 
 
 117 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 certainly seemed a big price to pay. The glass 
 jar is still in my possession as a memento of 
 Ngadirono. 
 
 We retraced our steps by the way we had come 
 and got back to Tosari late in the afternoon, very 
 tired, especially with the last climb up from the 
 river, but much delighted with our expedition. 
 The dinner that night seemed worse than ever 
 when contrasted with our appetizing lunch; the 
 soup was greasy and the meat tough and not well 
 cooked. It is a great pity that mutton as an 
 article of food is tabooed in Java. The Dutch 
 there consider the poor sheep when turned into 
 mutton an unclean thing, and pronounce it 
 " horrid," " dirty," and unfit to be eaten ; so that 
 the staple dishes are beef, veal and pork. It is 
 curious there should be this prejudice against 
 such an inoffensive animal, whose food is nice, 
 clean grass, but in Java these animals were un- 
 known till the European settlers introduced 
 them, and there is no word for sheep in the 
 Javanese language. It is called by the natives a 
 " Dutch goat." The ruling nation has adopted 
 many of the Javanese customs, and possibly this 
 may be its reason for ignoring the sheep and 
 lamb. We supplemented the hotel meal with 
 
 118 
 
TOSARI AND THE BROMO 
 
 bread (which was quite good) and some of our 
 newly acquired butter; these, in addition to tea 
 made by means of our spirit lamp, served to 
 satisfy our hunger. We were fortunately able to 
 get plenty of milk, a supply being brought us 
 each day corked up in a wine or spirit bottle. 
 
 I believe the food in the Sanatorium proper is 
 quite good and perfectly satisfactory to Euro- 
 peans; but in the smaller hotel where we were, 
 which is no doubt a cheaper place for the Dutch 
 resident in Java, anything seems good enough. 
 For the ordinary tourist it is not a bit cheaper. 
 
 We had to start betimes next morning for the 
 Bromo, as it was advisable to make the excursion 
 before the great heat of the day. My sister-in- 
 law had heard such accounts of the appalling 
 difficulties of the expedition that she decided not 
 to accompany my brother and me. We were very 
 sorry for this afterwards, as it was by no means 
 as fatiguing as we had been led to suppose. 
 
 Soon after 3 a.m. we were called, and tea with 
 bread and butter brought to us, and we set forth 
 a little before four o'clock; my brother and I in 
 sedan chairs and the guide on horseback. It 
 was most weird and uncanny starting off at that 
 early hour from the quiet hotel, full of sleeping 
 
 119 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 folk, in the pale light of the waning moon, borne 
 on the shoulders of dusky natives, whose bare feet 
 made scarcely any sound as we passed down the 
 steps and turned to the left for the long climb to 
 the Bromo. But this strange and unaccustomed 
 setting could not prevent my feeling the intense 
 cold, which was as severe as among the glaciers 
 of Switzerland. The moonlight was stronger 
 when we emerged from the shadows of the hotel 
 and the peaks of the neighbouring mountains, 
 catching the rays, stood out white and clear 
 against the sky ; but along the road we traversed, 
 and in our progress through the Javanese kam- 
 pongs, or villages, the dim light only served to 
 make everything look ghastly and mysterious. 
 Continually ascending we were carried along 
 narrow roads, sometimes mere paths, broadening 
 out somewhat as we reached a village. In these 
 latter the inhabitants were, for the most part, 
 wrapped in slumber, but in two or three I saw 
 a man in a sort of shed warming himself at a fire 
 of wood or charcoal, and presumed he was either 
 a watchman or someone preparing for an early 
 day's work. I longed to share the warmth of his 
 fire, as by this time, in spite of rugs and shawls, 
 I was numb with cold. The moon had now set 
 
 120 
 
TOSARI AND THE BROMO 
 
 and darkness reigned supreme, but our bearers 
 experienced no difficulty in rinding their way and 
 stepped out briskly. Soon a faint flush appeared 
 in the sky, herald of the approaching dawn ; little, 
 white clouds tipped with crimson floated up, a 
 warmer atmosphere seemed to enfold us; the 
 distant mountains took on rainbow hues and 
 appeared as if floating in a sea of gold ; finally, 
 " the sun in all his state illumed the Eastern 
 skies " and poured his rays with grateful warmth 
 on my shivering frame. Never was sunrise more 
 welcome ! A sudden turn in the road brought a 
 wonderful sight to our view. Our bearers 
 stopped and called out " Smeroe ! Smeroe ! ' J 
 and pointed out the great volcanic mountain, the 
 highest in Java, 12,300 feet high, where it stood 
 directly in front of us, but far away, with all the 
 glory of the sunrise upon it. The crest of the 
 mountain glittered in the sun and every few 
 minutes a great cloud of white smoke issued from 
 it, to be in its turn transmuted into gold. We 
 sat entranced at the marvellous vision, and our 
 bearers seemed to enjoy our admiration, for their 
 faces beamed. But we could not stay very long, 
 and once more we were lifted and carried onward 
 through fields and plantations, past groves of 
 
 121 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 tjemara trees, along most precipitous paths, so 
 that I was lost in wonder at the agility and sure- 
 footedness of our bearers. At last, about three 
 hours after we had left Tosari, we came to the 
 entrance of the Moengal Pass. Here the road 
 divides, one path leading down into the pass, the 
 other ascending sharply to a small plateau where 
 the Government has provided a hut for shelter. 
 Here you partake of the refreshment brought 
 with you, as nothing can be obtained in the hut 
 or shed. We had been warned and had brought 
 tea in our Thermos flasks, together with bread and 
 butter and hard boiled eggs provided by the 
 hotel. The hot tea was most comforting, and the 
 long ride had made us hungry enough to enjoy 
 the simple fare. I might say here, that we found 
 the Thermos flasks invaluable during our wan- 
 derings, not only for keeping liquid hot, but also 
 for preserving its coldness. When our repast 
 was finished the guide took us to the edge of the 
 precipice at the side of the hut and there we saw 
 spread before us a most superb and unique 
 panorama. Would that I could find words to 
 describe it in such a manner as to give those who 
 have not seen it even a faint idea of its grandeur ! 
 From the slight eminence on which we stood we 
 
 122 
 
TOSARI AND THE BROMO 
 
 looked far down below to a great expanse or sea 
 of sand, the celebrated Zandsee. In colour it 
 was a yellowish grey, as smooth as a looking 
 glass, and apparently stretching for miles. En- 
 closing it as far as one could see was a steep, 
 rugged wall of rocks and earth covered with 
 grass and foliage. Rising out of the sandy 
 waste were three mountains; the Batok, looking 
 like a monster plum pudding just turned out of 
 a colossal mould by some giant hand, for its sides 
 were all radiating curves where the lava had run 
 down, and the top was slightly flattened. Behind 
 it we could just perceive a dark, cavernous open- 
 ing from which smoke proceeded, and that was 
 all that could be seen of the Bromo's crater from 
 where we stood. More to the right was the third 
 mountain, in shape like a cone, with the same 
 indented sides as the Batok; this was the Wido- 
 daren. Beyond these mountains the south wall 
 enclosing the sandy expanse was visible, it is 
 called the Ider Ider, and reaches its highest point 
 near a dyke called the Tjemara-Lawang, which 
 means the " gate of spirits." We were standing 
 on the northern boundary known as the Moengal. 
 Away in the distance in a southerly direction we 
 could just catch a glimpse of the majestic 
 
 123 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 Smeroe, continually emitting a cloud of steam, 
 but nothing like the view we had of it as we came. 
 This enormous expanse of sand is the crater floor 
 of a huge volcano, the Tengger. The dyke 
 which breaks the continuity of its outer wall must 
 have been the result of an eruption which split 
 up the mountain, allowing the mud and lava to 
 run through the gap into the valley below, and to 
 this opening the natives have given the poetical 
 name, " gate of spirits." When the eruption de- 
 creased in violence in this vast crater, four new 
 and smaller ones were formed, producing four 
 mountains which rose up one after another from 
 the sandy floor. Three I have mentioned above, 
 the fourth, the Giri, lay hidden behind the Wido- 
 daren. The silence was profound, undisturbed 
 by note of bird or even the rustle of the wind in 
 the trees ; it seemed almost incredible that a little 
 way below the surface of the earth on which we 
 stood, stupendous cauldrons of fire were eternally 
 seething and bubbling, and that the death-like 
 stillness might at any moment without warning 
 be broken by a thunderous roar as a prelude to 
 the boiling over of one of these reservoirs and the 
 consequent flowing forth of a stream of fiery lava. 
 We would fain have lingered, but our guide was 
 
 124 
 
BATOK MOUNTAIN 
 
TOSARI AND THE BROMO 
 
 getting impatient, as we had still some distance 
 to go. With reluctance we turned away and pre- 
 pared to descend the Moengal Pass. At the top 
 of this precipitous path are small holes or caves 
 dug out by the natives, and here the Tenggerese 
 invariably offer sacrifices to the Dewas or spirits, 
 whom, they believe, have their dwelling place in 
 this desolate region and who require to be pro- 
 pitiated before allowing human beings to set foot 
 in their domain. These caves or openings are 
 on both sides of the path. We had left our 
 palanquins at the foot of the ascent to the hut, as 
 it was too dangerous to use them on this narrow, 
 zigzag track. Wonderful views greeted us at 
 each turn of our winding way, but the task of 
 keeping our feet and avoiding slipping on the 
 rough stones was too absorbing to allow us to 
 enjoy them properly, and we were thankful when 
 we had reached the bottom and could walk on 
 the firm, unyielding sand. Here, to our surprise, 
 our bearers met us with the sedan chairs; as we 
 had expected to cross the intervening space 
 between the pass and the Bromo, on foot. But 
 we were most thankful to take advantage of 
 them and be spared the long, hot walk, as here 
 in the shelter of the crater we missed the breeze 
 
 I2 5 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 that had been so refreshing on the heights above, 
 and though it was so early in the day the hot rays 
 of the sun seemed to beat directly on our heads. 
 That was a wonderful journey over the sandy 
 desert, which in one place blossomed into pretty, 
 yellow flowers not unlike buttercups, covering 
 quite a considerable extent of ground. We met 
 one or two natives on ponies, and three or four 
 on foot; but except for these we had the whole 
 Zandsee to ourselves, and found it most impres- 
 sive. We had to go right round the Batok, which 
 did not lose its plum pudding-like aspect even 
 when viewed more closely. Leaving it behind, 
 we soon traversed the intervening space and 
 arrived at the Bromo, a huge mountain of con- 
 gealed lava, its slopes all seamed and notched 
 like the edge of a saw. It was surrounded by 
 hillocks of sand, hardened by the sun. When we 
 reached these we stepped out of our palanquins 
 and walked the rest of the way. Up these large 
 hummocks of sand the ascent was comparatively 
 easy, but when we reached the foot of the Bromo 
 itself we had to climb up the side through soft, 
 yielding sand and earth, in which one sank almost 
 to the knees. The flight of wooden stairs was in 
 process of erection for the May Festival in 
 
 126 
 
TOSARI AND THE BROMO 
 
 honour of the Tenggerese's chief god, Dewan 
 Soelan Iloe. I looked with covetous eyes at such 
 a nice, easy way of getting up, but the natives said 
 the stairway was unfinished, the cement not dry, 
 and they would not permit its sacred steps to be 
 profaned by the feet of a foreigner. The usual 
 method of getting to the top, is for two natives to 
 haul you up by bands or scarves passed round 
 your arms above the elbows, while a third pushes 
 you from behind. My brother adopted this plan, 
 but the natives were such fierce-looking bandits, 
 and had evidently not used Pears or any other 
 soap for so long, that I could not bear them to 
 touch me, and declined their assistance. A 
 wooden railing ran along one side of the tabooed 
 flight of steps; grasping this I managed with 
 considerable difficulty to pull myself up, and 
 panting and breathless I gained the summit 
 almost as soon as my brother. I do not think the 
 natives liked my even touching the -fringe of their 
 sacred staircase in this manner, but they offered 
 no objection. The Bromo was not in a state of 
 eruption just then, or we could not have made 
 the ascent. When it does erupt, it suddenly 
 pours forth volumes of black smoke accompanied 
 by a roaring noise like thunder that resounds 
 
 127 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 through the Zandsee; it also plays mad pranks 
 with stones and lumps of lava, ejecting them from 
 its mouth with such force that they are hurled to 
 a considerable distance; then it ceases as sud- 
 denly as it began and only white smoke steals 
 forth silently. The latter was all we could see, 
 as we gazed into its dark depths ; though at inter- 
 vals we heard a deep, rumbling sound far down 
 in the interior, and once I saw a lurid flame that 
 " gave no light " but rather " made darkness 
 visible." Around the mouth of the crater were 
 great lumps of lava and stones with sparkling 
 crystals in them thrown up in the last eruption. 
 It was an impressive and awe-inspiring sight to 
 see the hidden forces of nature thus revealed, 
 and for me a unique experience. 
 
 The view from the edge of the crater was most 
 extensive and wonderfully fine, as each rock and 
 hill stood out clear cut against the blue sky; but 
 later in the day, even in the early afternoon, a 
 mist closes down on everything, therefore it is 
 essential to take the early morning for a visit to 
 the Bromo. 
 
 Going down was worse than coming up, but 
 was accomplished in less time. The friendly 
 rail once more lent me assistance and I hope the 
 
 128 
 
STAIRCASE UP THE BROMO 
 
 INTERIOR OF THE BROMO 
 
TOSARI AND THE BROMO 
 
 Tenggerese had not to offer a special sacrifice 
 or perform any cleansing rite in consequence. 
 
 Once more we entered our palanquins and 
 were borne swiftly back to the Moengal Pass. 
 The bearers would have taken me up it, but I 
 insisted on getting out and walking, partly be- 
 cause I had more faith in my own two feet than in 
 their eight on such a stony path, which was more 
 like the bed of a mountain torrent than anything 
 else, and partly because I wanted to enjoy the 
 wonderful peeps, each different, you get of the 
 Zandsee, as the path twists or turns. Walking 
 up was not such anxious work as going down, so 
 that one was able to enjoy the magnificent pros- 
 pect. My bearers could scarcely believe that I 
 intended to walk when I could ride or be carried, 
 and every now and then as I came up with, 
 or passed them, they would put down the palan- 
 quin and make signs for me to get into it. But 
 I shook my head and continued my way, well 
 rewarded by all I saw. At the top I stood and gave 
 a last long look at the marvellous panorama, the 
 like of which I never expect to see again no matter 
 where I may travel, and then I got into the chair 
 and was bumped and shaken all the way back, 
 my bamboo conveyance swaying from side to side 
 
 129 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 as its bearers plunged down the steep descent to 
 the hotel. There is not much joy in a sedan 
 chair when going downhill, it seems possessed by 
 a demon. We got back before one o'clock, in 
 plenty of time for lunch, the expedition having 
 taken between eight and nine hours. It is not 
 often one puts in an eight hours' day before one 
 o'clock p.m. We were glad of a rest in the after- 
 noon, but after tea we walked down to inspect the 
 Sanatorium, and survey the little pavilions and 
 gardens to see what we had missed. It looked 
 quite luxurious as compared with our rustic 
 hostelry on the heights above. When we got back 
 we again sat out on the balcony beyond the dining 
 room and enjoyed the sight of a most gorgeous 
 sunset. 
 
 The five peaks of Ardjoena shone like gold in 
 a setting of crimson, and the crests of Kawi 
 appeared to rise out of a purple sea of many 
 shades; there was quick transition from blazing 
 splendour to softer rainbow colours, these in turn 
 melting into crimson, then into changing purples, 
 which deepened in hue, until sudden and complete 
 darkness descended, as if a monster extinguisher 
 had been manipulated by a Titan hand. 
 
 Next morning we were supposed to leave at 
 
 130 
 
TOSARI AND THE BROMO 
 
 seven o'clock for Sourabaya; we therefore got up 
 before six, had everything packed and were quite 
 ready, but there was no sign of our guide and no 
 appearance of breakfast. We tried to enquire, 
 and managed to ascertain that our guide was mak- 
 ing his toilet and must not be disturbed, and that 
 breakfast was ready for us in the dining room. 
 We finished our repast and came back into the 
 courtyard to find the palanquins and bearers in 
 readiness, the horses laden with the luggage, and 
 one riderless steed standing by, but still no guide. 
 When our patience was almost exhausted he 
 appeared, evidently finishing a hasty breakfast and 
 exceedingly cross. My brother was much 
 annoyed, and determined to try and find another 
 guide who would be more useful, and have more 
 consideration for our linguistic deficiencies, and 
 not leave us in the lurch as he had done that morn- 
 ing. The going back was most delightful, in 
 spite of the palanquins; the forests through which 
 we wended our way were regions of enchantment; 
 in them we saw the jolliest little brown monkeys 
 bounding from tree to tree, chattering and 
 grinning at us as though they resented our intru- 
 sion into their sylvan home. At Poespo we ex- 
 changed our palanquins for carnages, occupying 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 them in the same order as before. Our drive up 
 had been rapid, but our drive down was a wild 
 stampede. John Gilpin was a slowcoach in com- 
 parison ! We tore along at such a breakneck pace 
 that once we almost collided with another carnage 
 in front, and once we were nearly run down by a 
 motor car in which was seated the Grand Duke of 
 Mecklenburg Strelitz on his way to Tosari. We 
 clung like limpets to the sides of our vehicle, quite 
 expecting to find ourselves lying in the road each 
 time our driver dashed round a corner. He had 
 a whistle in his mouth, and kept whistling the 
 whole time to warn all and sundry to get out of 
 his way. But though rash and foolhardy, he was 
 a skilful driver, and managed to avoid any catas- 
 trophe and landed us safe and sound at Pasoeroen 
 railway station, where we thankfully took train for 
 Sourabava. 
 
 132 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 RETURN TO SOURABAYA THE GOVERNMENT OF JAVA 
 
 THE ' ' CULTURE SYSTEM ' 
 
 WE got back to the Goebeng Station at Sourabaya 
 about 3 o'clock p.m. and took a " kosong " (four 
 wheeled carriage) to the hotel, where we deposited 
 our luggage, and drove on to the office of Messrs. 
 Burns Philp and Co. to try and change our guide. 
 We should have liked the one who had met us 
 on the Mataram and brought us ashore, but 
 we were just too late to secure him, for he had 
 been engaged an hour earlier by some fellow 
 passengers. However, through him we got a 
 very nice young fellow, a Syrian, who knew the 
 country well, though he had never acted as guide 
 before; he also spoke English much better than 
 our Dutch guide, and of course knew Dutch and 
 Malay well. 
 
 The English friend of our fellow passenger 
 (Mrs. H.) to whom we had been introduced at 
 the railway station on our way to Tosari, came to 
 dinner that evening and offered to go shopping 
 
 '33 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 with us next day, as we were anxious to see some 
 of the native brass work for which Sourabaya is 
 famous; he also very kindly invited us to tea at 
 his house. 
 
 From one of the Javanese peddlers who came 
 round to the verandah where we were sitting 
 before dinner, we had already bought some of the 
 little brass boxes, which are used for keeping the 
 betel leaf which all natives chew. These 
 peddlers bring all sorts of wares to the hotels and 
 display them to the tourists in the hope that they 
 may buy. Some very fine specimens of batik 
 cloth for sarongs were shown us in this way, but 
 we had been told that Djokjakarta, which is one 
 of the homes of the batik industry, was the place 
 in which to buy it, so we refused to be tempted. 
 It was terribly hot in Sourabaya, and we felt it all 
 the more coming from the cool air of Tosari. 
 The mosquitoes also were very troublesome, and 
 seemed to take a fiendish delight in attacking the 
 unhappy tourist. Little green lizards ran over 
 the walls of the bedrooms in great numbers; the 
 place seemed full of them. They are pretty look- 
 ing little things, but I did not want them any more 
 than I wanted the mosquitoes for bedfellows, so I 
 used to cautiously open the mosquito curtains just 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF JAVA 
 
 wide enough for me to make a dive between them 
 on to the bed, drawing them quickly together 
 again and carefully tucking them in. By this 
 means I eluded both enemies in the night time. 
 It was well that the beds were so big, and that 
 there was no danger of my landing on the floor 
 at the other side, which might easily have hap- 
 pened with an ordinary narrow bed. Next morn- 
 ing our new guide appeared before 10 a.m., and 
 we were very pleased with him. As Mr. W. (our 
 English friend) could not call for us until 12 
 o'clock, we went out to do some shopping with the 
 guide for an hour or so, and saw some very 
 fascinating things. I was able to get in miniature 
 a little bedstead exactly like the one in my room, 
 and several other little curios. Then we visited 
 a large grocery shop and laid in a store of biscuits, 
 tea, cocoa, etc., but we never again needed them 
 as much as we had done at Tosari, as the food in 
 the other places was not at all bad, and in the big 
 towns very good, but the biscuits were always 
 welcome at early morning and afternoon tea. We 
 finished up with ices at the Grimm Restaurant, a 
 delightful cafe, quite as good as any in Paris. We 
 then retraced our steps to the hotel, and punctually 
 at noon Mr. W. appeared with his own carriage to 
 
 135 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 take us about. We had a most interesting drive 
 with him, and went to several of the shops where 
 brass work was displayed. Some of the old work 
 of this kind is exceedingly beautiful; the engrav- 
 ing, embossing and pierced work in many of the 
 specimens shown us, were executed with great 
 artistic skill. But everything of this sort was very 
 expensive, so we had to content ourselves with 
 modern handiwork. I got a very nice brass re- 
 ceptacle for betel nut and its accessories, shaped 
 like a vase and engraved all over; the upper part 
 lifted off like a lid, and the bowl part below con- 
 tained all the little brass boxes for betel leaf, areca 
 nut, lime, and whatever else is used; when these 
 are taken out, the bowl can be used for flowers or 
 anything one likes. Betel chewing is the univer- 
 sal practice among the natives, not only in Java, 
 but in most countries of the East. It is the leaf 
 of a climbing plant, not unlike an ivy leaf, but it 
 contains a quantity of narcotic juice, which is 
 mixed with lime and areca nut. The Javanese 
 are always chewing this compound, and invariably 
 carry it about with them, but it blackens their teeth 
 dreadfully and makes the lips unnaturally red. 
 After making our brass purchases we went to a 
 photographer to get some photographs of the 
 
 136 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF JAVA 
 
 places we had seen, and then to the hotel. In 
 the afternoon Mr. W. sent his carriage to bring 
 us to his house, a most charming, almost palatial 
 residence in the old Dutch style. His wife (a 
 Dutch lady) was away from home, but he did the 
 honours most kindly and hospitably, and we were 
 very much pleased to have an opportunity of see- 
 ing the interior of a Dutch-Javanese private house, 
 which otherwise would have been impossible. It 
 was a beautiful place, with a verandah about 
 twenty feet wide on the front and a similar one at 
 the back, both having tiled floors. The front one 
 is where visitors are received, and there we had 
 tea; the back verandah is the family gathering 
 place, and I believe most of the meals are served 
 there. A long passage with panelled walls runs 
 through the middle of the house connecting the 
 two. On either side of this corridor are high doors 
 of polished wood leading into lofty and spacious 
 apartments. The drawing room was very large, 
 with a parquetry floor, and had beautiful old 
 Dutch furniture and lovely china, as well as 
 Javanese curios. The floor was like glass, and 
 quite as slippery. The library was a very fine 
 room also, with an old Dutch bureau and book- 
 cases, and on a table in one corner was a very 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 fine model of a Javanese kampong or village. A 
 rather bare appearance is given to the rooms by 
 the absence of heavy curtains and all upholstery, 
 but it makes them look and feel cool. And "How 
 to keep cool " is the ruling idea among Europeans 
 in Java, and every house and place is arranged 
 to that end. 
 
 Mr. W. took us into his garden, which we 
 entered from the back verandah; it was full of the 
 most beautiful flowers, many of them in pots or 
 large china vases. Except in the higher alti- 
 tudes, nearly all gardens have these pots instead 
 of flower beds; I suppose it is to protect them from 
 the ravages of insects which are a fearful pest in 
 tropical climates. There were many rare and 
 strange looking orchids growing in all sorts of 
 unexpected places, and a profusion of the most 
 exquisite roses, not in pots, but trained over 
 arches and trellis work. Quantities also of tropi- 
 cal plants and flowers of varied hues were grouped 
 together so that the garden blazed with colour, 
 and to see it was a great treat. On either side 
 of the garden, but some distance away, were the 
 stables and wooden houses for the servants, as 
 the natives never live in the house with their Euro- 
 pean masters and their families. 
 
 138 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF JAVA 
 
 We said goodbye to Mr. W., and thanked him 
 most heartily for all his kindness to us, and re- 
 turned to the hotel. We found there was time 
 for a drive before dinner, so hiring a carriage we 
 drove towards the Kali Mas (Kali is the Javanese 
 for river) , crossing the Redbridge that connects 
 the European and Chinese quarters. The river 
 itself presented a most animated appearance, with 
 sampans and canoes darting about among the 
 heavily laden barges with their queer roof-like 
 coverings. We followed the course of the river 
 for some distance, driving along a beautiful 
 avenue of trees with the river on one side and on 
 the other handsome villas and pretty gardens be- 
 longing to the Dutch residents. It was nearly 
 dark by this time, and in some of the houses the 
 family were gathered on the front verandah, which 
 was brilliantly lighted up. The Dutch do not 
 seem to mind publicity, and eat, drink, rest, and 
 amuse themselves in full view of the passers by. 
 I was told that the front verandah lighted up is a 
 sign that the members of the family are at home to 
 visitors; should they desire privacy they retire to 
 the back verandah and leave the front in darkness. 
 They all seemed to be " at home " that evening. 
 On our way back we met many carriages in which 
 
 139 
 
 10 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 were ladies most elaborately dressed, but wearing 
 neither hat nor bonnet. Milliners in Java are not 
 in request. 
 
 Sourabaya is a very fine city, and in former 
 times was the capital of the Dutch East Indies, 
 before Batavia was given that title; and even now 
 it may be considered the commercial capital, as it 
 is wholly given over to business. It is situated 
 at the mouth of the Kali Mas, which has been 
 called the river of gold on account of the yellow 
 colour of its water. It possesses a dockyard and 
 gun foundry, and is the headquarters of the Mili- 
 tary Command of East Java. Nearly every race 
 and language is represented among its inhabitants, 
 but by far the most numerous are the Chinese, 
 who number about twice as many as the Euro- 
 peans. These Celestials are very wealthy and 
 important, live in beautiful and artistic houses in 
 the best style, dress magnificently on state occa- 
 sions, and drive about in well-appointed carriages. 
 I believe they are not allowed to have European 
 servants or employees, but they seem to manage 
 quite well with the services of the Javanese or 
 Malays. 
 
 Sourabaya is about the hottest place in Java, 
 for the island of Madura, just opposite to it, pre- 
 140 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF JAVA 
 
 vents the cooling breezes from reaching the town, 
 hence malaria and cholera are always present. 
 Water too, for drinking purposes, is bad and 
 scarce; the good water supplied in the hotels is 
 brought all the way from Pasoeroean and reserved 
 for Europeans. 
 
 The Indo-Javanese Empire of Madjapahit, 
 which once ruled over the whole of Java, came 
 into existence quite near Sourabaya. It was at 
 the fall of this empire in the sixteenth century that 
 the Tenggerese tribe fled to the hills and forests 
 round Tosari. Sourabaya boasts some fine 
 public buildings, has two or three Clubs, a Con- 
 cert Hall, a Theatre, excellent hotels and capital 
 shops. It has military communication with all 
 parts of Java, and intercourse with the outer world 
 by ships and steamers. In fact, it has everything 
 except a healthy climate. 
 
 Before continuing the account of our travels or 
 relating our experiences in Mid Java, whither we 
 went after leaving Sourabaya, it might be as well 
 to say something of the government of Java by the 
 Dutch, and give a brief account of the much 
 abused " culture system." Those who do not 
 care for such details can skip them, but they will 
 probably interest some readers. 
 
 141 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 Java is governed by a joint administration, 
 Dutch and native; for this purpose it is divided 
 into seventeen Residencies (formerly there were 
 twenty-two), each controlled by a native prince 
 called a Regent, and by a Dutchman who has the 
 title of Resident. Supreme over the whole 
 island, however, is the Governor General of the 
 Dutch East Indies, who holds his appointment 
 direct from the Crown, and is practically absolute 
 within his own Dominion. He is at the head of 
 the Army and Navy, and has full discretionary 
 powers in dealing with the native princes. Under 
 him is a Council of five, consisting of a vice-presi- 
 dent and four members; these he is obliged to con- 
 sult, but he is in no way bound to take their advice. 
 He has also ministers at the head of various de- 
 partments, such as Finance, Justice, Public 
 Works, etc., who keep him au courant with every 
 matter concerning their respective divisions or 
 sections. The Governor-General receives a 
 salary of 14,000 a year, which is further supple- 
 mented by various allowances for special objects. 
 Two palaces are set apart for his use, one at 
 Buitenzorg, in the grounds of the beautiful 
 Botanic Gardens, and another at Weltevreden 
 (Batavia). In addition, he has a beautiful 
 
 142 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF JAVA 
 
 country residence at Tjipanas, among the moun- 
 tains. In each of the Residencies the Javanese 
 Prince reigns supreme in the natives 1 eyes, and 
 enjoys all the pomp and ceremony of a native 
 court, sits under the golden umbrella (or pajong) 
 on state occasions, and exacts homage of his 
 entourage. But behind him is the real ruler, the 
 Resident, who acts the part of " guide, philo- 
 sopher and friend," and without whose permission 
 he may not drive outside his own courtyard. This 
 " elder brother " is content that the Regent 
 should have the honour and glory, while he 
 possesses all the power. In case of any difference 
 of opinion the advice given by the Resident is com- 
 pulsory on the Regent, the latter enjoys the 
 ' pomp and circumstance " of kingship only; he 
 is ever made to feel the " iron hand within the 
 velvet glove." The Resident has under him an 
 Assistant- Resident and also officers called con- 
 trollers, all Europeans, who act as he directs. 
 The Regents or Native Princes receive a liberal 
 allowance, from 2,000 to 3,000 a year, so that 
 they may keep up their courts in true oriental 
 magnificence, but they no longer have any control 
 over the revenues derived from the land owned 
 by their ancestors; these belong to the Govern- 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 ment. Two of the Residencies enjoy a greater 
 nominal independence than the others, inasmuch 
 as one is ruled by a Sultan and the other by a Susu- 
 hunan, instead of a Regent. Both Principalities, 
 as these two are called, are in Mid Java, one Sura- 
 karta or Solo, as the Javanese designate it, is 
 ruled by the Susuhunan, a title which means "His 
 Holiness," as he is supposed to wield spiritual 
 as well as temporal power; the second is Djokja- 
 karta, which is quite near Solo, and its ruler bears 
 the title of Sultan. These two, in spite of their 
 high-sounding appellations, have no more real 
 power than the Regents, but they have a much 
 larger salary (the Susuhunan has about 70,000 
 a year) , and keep up much greater state and 
 pageantry in their courts. The official language 
 is Malay; Javanese is too difficult and complex for 
 that purpose, and lacks the adaptability of the 
 Malay tongue, which is spoken and understood 
 throughout the East. 
 
 The High Court of Justice is at Batavia, but 
 there are lower courts in the five principal towns. 
 The army is purely colonial and not connected 
 with that in the Mother Country; the regiments 
 have about two-thirds native to one-third Dutch 
 soldiers, but all the officers are European. The 
 
 144 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF JAVA 
 
 revenue is derived from various sources, forests, 
 mines, salt, opium and railways, the last three 
 being government monopolies. All help to fill 
 the Dutch coffers, but the most important contri- 
 bution to the Budget is obtained from the sale of 
 coffee, which is the only produce now grown under 
 the much abused " culture system," though in 
 former years, sugar, indigo, tea, quinine, tobacco, 
 pepper, cinnamon and various spices were all 
 cultivated by this drastic method. 
 
 This system was conceived by the wily brain of 
 General Van den Bosch. Before his time Mar- 
 shall Dcendals had ruled with an iron hand from 
 1808 to 1811, crushing all resistance of the native 
 princes to the power of the Dutch Government by 
 most drastic methods, making them to under- 
 stand that they held their semi-sovereignty only 
 at his will and pleasure. Like the Romans, he 
 considered good roads essential to the well-being 
 of a country, and set about making one in Java 
 running the whole length of the land from Anjer 
 Point in the West to Bunjuwangi in the East. He 
 compelled each kampong (village) en route to 
 construct a certain portion of the road within a 
 definite time, and if it had not been completed at 
 the date fixed, the chiefs of the defaulting village, 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 who were held responsible, suffered death by 
 hanging. By these means, the road, which ex- 
 tends for 800 miles, was finished within two years, 
 and a splendid one it is, but it took a heavy toll 
 in the lives of the natives. Then Doendals turned 
 his attention to the land, and by means of " forced 
 crops " compelled the natives to cultivate some- 
 thing more than their beloved rice. Each family 
 had to plant and tend one thousand coffee trees 
 and make a present of two-fifths of the produce to 
 the Government; the three-fifths that remained 
 they were compelled to sell to the Crown at a 
 ridiculously low price so that a large profit was 
 obtained. In 1811 the Dutch were superseded 
 by the English, and for four years Java was under 
 the wise, skilful, and humane government of Sir 
 Stamford Raffles, who effected many reforms, re- 
 stored the confidence of the native princes, 
 abolished the forced delivery of crops, and allowed 
 the natives to return to the cultivation of rice. In 
 1815, after Napoleon's fall, Raffles was with- 
 drawn, and in 1818, by the decision of the Con- 
 gress of Vienna, Java again became Dutch. For 
 some time Raffles' example was followed by those 1 
 in authority, and they governed wisely and well 
 according to his methods. But in 1833 the island 
 
 . 146 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF JAVA 
 
 was in debt, free labour did not prove as lucrative 
 as forced, and Holland accepted the offer of 
 General Van den Bosch to try and bring about a 
 better state of affairs. He was allowed to adopt 
 any methods he pleased to achieve his object, and 
 so conceived the idea of, and instituted, the 
 " Culture System/' with which his name is in- 
 variably associated in both praise and blame. 
 When, as a result of his system, wealth poured 
 into Holland, the first was lavishly awarded, but 
 later, when it was realised by what oppression and 
 cruelty this tribute had been exacted, when the 
 non-cultivation of rice (so that the * rich ' crops 
 might be grown) resulted in a famine, and the 
 death of half a million of natives from hunger, the 
 most opprobrious epithet was not too strong to 
 be applied to him. So short-lived is the gratitude 
 of a government or a people ! 
 
 The culture system of Van den Bosch consisted 
 in compelling the natives to give up one-fifth of 
 their land; on this impounded portion they had to 
 cultivate certain crops specified by the govern- 
 ment, and give the labour of one day in seven for 
 this object. In return they were promised that 
 the land tax hitherto paid by them should be re- 
 pealed. At first only the sugar cane was planted, 
 
 '47 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 but such enormous profits resulted from the sale in 
 Europe of the sugar thus obtained, that the system 
 was extended to the other crops, and by degrees 
 tea (the seeds of which had been brought from 
 Japan and China) , coffee, indigo, quinine, 
 tobacco, pepper, and various spices were all culti- 
 vated in the same manner, and thereby great 
 wealth accrued to Holland. The system pressed 
 heavily on the natives; the land tax continued to 
 be enforced, even for those lands they were com- 
 pelled to give up; by degrees more than one-fifth 
 of these were claimed, and they had still to pay for 
 what was no longer theirs. The contractors who 
 managed this " sweating " business ground down 
 the natives more and more, and became increas- 
 ingly tyrannical and cruel to secure larger profits 
 for themselves, until at length the poor people 
 were only permitted to grow the"ir rice on land so 
 far from the villages that they had no time to 
 devote to its cultivation, and found (to their cost) 
 that the more money they made for their masters 
 the poorer they became themselves. 
 
 But Holland began to wake up to the iniquity 
 of these proceedings in her colony. A novel 
 entitled " Max Havelaar " (by Edouard Douwes 
 Dekker Multatuli) dealing with the subject and 
 
 148 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF JAVA 
 
 exposing its tyranny made a great stir in Holland. 
 It was a novel with a purpose, and never had one 
 better results; by degrees public opinion was 
 aroused; the famine among the Javanese in 1849 
 completed the good work that t( Max Havelaar ' 
 had begun, and free labour was installed in Java 
 instead of forced culture. At the present time 
 only coffee is produced by the old method, and a 
 period for this has been fixed after which it, too, 
 will be free. 
 
 In spite of so much blame being attached to the 
 system originated by Van den Bosch, there is no 
 doubt it brought a blessing in disguise. This 
 was not due to any merit in its originator, whose 
 only idea was to make money, without a thought 
 or care for the welfare of the Javanese; nor in 
 the system itself, which was wholly bad, but to 
 the effect on the vegetation throughout the island. 
 The easy-going, apathetic Javanese would never 
 have cultivated the ground in the same way of 
 their own accord; to grow sufficient rice to meet 
 their daily needs was all their aim, and none of 
 those crops which serve to make Java such a source 
 of wealth would have been introduced or grown, 
 as few of them are indigenous. Compulsory sow- 
 ing and planting has made Java what it is, i.e., a 
 
 149 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 veritable " Garden of Eden," with the most 
 luxurious vegetation of any island in the world; so 
 out of evil has come good. 
 
 150 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 DJOKJAKARTA THE WATER CASTLE BATIK 
 INDUSTRY 
 
 WE had intended visiting Soerakarta (or Solo as 
 the Javanese call it) , where the Susuhunan wields 
 his nominal sovereignty in the Vorstenlanden or 
 ' Lands of the Princes/' but we heard that one 
 of the sons of his Highness had died, and that 
 the whole city would be in mourning, and our 
 sight seeing most likely restricted in consequence. 
 We decided, therefore, to go on to Djokjakarta, 
 some distance further; this is the second native 
 state of Middle Java, and the city is considered 
 even more Javanese than Solo. Both towns are 
 in the very heart of Java, and the Susuhunan in 
 the one, and the Sultan in the other, are the suc- 
 cessors of the Emperors or Sultans of the ancient 
 kingdom of Mataram. Round these two Princi- 
 palities are gathered all the romance and mystery, 
 legends and stories of the Java of a byegone age, 
 and so conservative are the dwellers of the East, 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 that the manners and customs of the natives to-day 
 are, with a few exceptions, similar to those of the 
 Javanese who inhabited the country when the 
 magnificent Hindu temples (still stately and awe- 
 inspiring in their ruined condition) were crowded 
 with eager worshippers, while priests made offer- 
 ings at the shrine of Buddha. Djokjakarta is 
 also a place of interest historically, as here Mar- 
 shal Dcendals made one of his military expedi- 
 tions; and later Sir Stamford Raffles quelled in- 
 surrections and established European supremacy 
 in Djokja with an armed force. 
 
 As usual we had an early start, our train being 
 timed to leave at 6 a.m., which meant getting up 
 before five. Tea and toast were brought round 
 to our rooms at 5 o'clock, and soon after we left 
 in a carriage for the station. The new guide was 
 a great success, looked after our luggage, got us 
 a nice compartment, and was most attentive. He 
 was born in Jaffa, and though only eighteen years 
 of age, had already travelled in India and 
 America, as well as over most of Java; so he was 
 quite experienced and extremely intelligent; we 
 were indeed lucky to get him! There was the 
 ordinary bustle and confusion at Goebeng station, 
 which always seemed crowded with natives, who 
 
 152 
 
DJOKJAKARTA THE WATER CASTLE 
 
 were most interesting to observe. Our carriage 
 in the train was slightly different from the one in 
 which we went to Tosari; one side being fitted with 
 two armchairs vis a vis, and the other having one 
 long seat with divisions; fortunately we had the 
 whole compartment to ourselves. The journey 
 from Sourabaya to Djokjakarta takes about eight 
 hours, and is a most interesting one. Soon after 
 leaving the station the peaks of the lofty Ardjoeno 
 Mountain, that we had seen from Tosari, were 
 visible. Then came an extensive plain with sugar 
 plantations, their feathery flowers swaying and 
 bending in the breeze; these were succeeded by 
 sawahs or wet rice fields, veritable swamps almost 
 covered with water; in some places these are quite 
 flat, and in others raised to form terraces, so that 
 a stream of water directed to the top terrace or 
 platform flows down on to and over the lower 
 levels; a most ingenious and labour-saving 
 arrangement. Here one is able to observe the 
 different stages of rice cultivation proceeding side 
 by side; muddy patches with the fresh seed just 
 sown; watery patches, to which the tender shoots 
 have been transplanted; and fields of growing rice 
 where the young shoots are of a most vivid light 
 green colour. Further on were tracts where 
 
 153 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 drainage had begun in order that the grain might 
 ripen fully in drier ground. When the grain is 
 perfectly ripe it is laboriously reaped by hand, 
 each ear being cut off separately by means of a 
 little curved knife. All the work done in the 
 paddy fields is done with bent back under a scorch- 
 ing sun, but the natives do not seem to think it 
 any hardship. In the middle of most of the plan- 
 tations where the grain was ripening, elevated 
 sheds of plaited bamboo were erected, and in each 
 of these was a small boy whose duty it was to scare 
 away the birds, either by shouting, or by making 
 a network of cords stretched over the field quiver 
 and vibrate. Birds are very fond of rice in the 
 ear. When the harvest is gathered it is tied up in 
 little bundles and at once dried in the sun, then the 
 grain is separated from the straw in a primitive 
 manner, by pounding it, and taken to native mills 
 to be ground. The Javanese persistently refuse 
 to employ any modern method of reaping the rice, 
 clinging to the ancient custom of cutting off each 
 ear separately; and the Dutch allow them to keep 
 to the old way, which has the advantage of giving 
 plenty of occupation to the teeming population. 
 
 The sugarcane is cultivated in almost as swampy 
 ground as the rice, but the soil must be enriched 
 
 '54 
 
DJOKJAKARTA THE WATER CASTLE 
 
 by a certain kind of manure or oil cake, before the 
 canes are planted, and from ten to eighteen 
 months' growth brings them to maturity. When 
 the cane is ripe, sugar-making must be at once 
 commenced and carried on to the finish, or much 
 sap may be lost and the quality of the sugar suffer. 
 Between the sugar and rice plantations we passed 
 from time to time through groves of magnificent 
 palm trees, the cocoanut palms laden with fruit; 
 beside them grew graceful bamboos and in- 
 numerable banana trees, the latter weighed down 
 by heavy clusters of green bananas. These 
 groves usually indicated the proximity of a kam- 
 pong, and sometimes we could see the bamboo 
 arch forming the entrance to the village and could 
 catch a glimpse of the little thatched houses 
 nestling among the trees. We crossed bridges 
 over rivers and skirted the banks of canals that 
 intersected the land in all directions. Once the 
 train passed through the outskirts of an immense 
 forest, and one could easily imagine leopards and 
 tigers and the fierce one-horned rhinoceros lurking 
 in its gloomy depths; the vegetation was most 
 exuberant; amid the tall trunks of the palms and 
 teak trees great tree ferns spread themselves out, 
 and the rattans and other creepers stretched from 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 branch to branch, forming a network of greenery 
 and making a delightful shade, which we were 
 quite in the mood to appreciate, as the sun was 
 beginning to make himself felt and the carriage 
 was very hot. Thanks to starting so early we 
 had enjoyed several hours of comparative cool- 
 ness, and at nine o'clock had partaken of a petit 
 dejeuner in the form of sandwiches, biscuits and 
 tea from our Thermos flask. This by no means 
 spoiled our appetite for quite a nice luncheon at 
 one o'clock in the restaurant car attached to the 
 train. We steamed into Djokjakarta Station 
 about 2.30 p.m. and drove to the Toogoe Hotel, 
 which had been recommended to us. We found 
 it most comfortable, and were allotted large airy 
 rooms, opening on to a broad verandah, with the 
 usual table and chairs, and overhanging lamp out- 
 side each door. A long, narrow court, planted in 
 grass, divided the bedrooms from the dining room, 
 to which we ascended by wooden steps. The 
 dining room was not unlike a square verandah, as 
 it consisted of a roof supported by pillars and open 
 at the sides, which made it delightfully cool. We 
 unpacked, had a short rest, partook of tea brought 
 us on small trays to our portions of the verandah, 
 and then set forth to see the sights of Djokja- 
 
 156 
 
DJOKJAKARTA THE WATER CASTLE 
 
 karta. The hotel supplied us with a carriage, 
 and a coachman with a huge and very smart hat, 
 in size resembling that of " The Merry Widow/' 
 Outside the hotel gates we could at once realise 
 we were in a native city, as on all sides were faces 
 of varying shades of brown, and not a white one 
 was to be seen. The Passer or Market was quite 
 near, and was evidently a permanent one, as the 
 wooden stalls were roofed with red tiles for the 
 convenience of the vendors who sat in them dis- 
 playing all sorts of fruits, vegetables, clothing, 
 and many other wares. In the small towns the 
 passer is a kind of gypsy affair, and leafy booths 
 and palm leaf umbrellas are considered sufficient 
 to form a stall or stand. There was no time then 
 to visit the passer \ that had to come later. We 
 drove through the streets, that were broad avenues 
 of Kanari trees, and they reached as far as eye 
 could see in every direction, and we passed queer 
 looking covered carts drawn by diminutive 
 humped buffaloes, little naked boys driving flocks 
 of geese or ducks or leading goats to pasture, and 
 swarthy men with gaily-coloured turbans, gener- 
 ally crowned by enormous hats made of plaited 
 bamboo or straw, of a brilliant blue or red. These 
 huge hats are quite a feature in Javanese life, and 
 
 '57 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 serve the triple purpose of hat, sunshade and 
 umbrella. Some of them are quite four feet 
 across; a bright blue seems the favourite colour, 
 though red is also worn; the paint is put on so 
 thickly and smoothly that even the tropical rain 
 runs off it. Some of the coachmen had their 
 hats painted in gold stripes with representa- 
 tions of dragons and other mythical animals 
 between. Only the men wear hats or turbans, 
 the women go about with bare heads, their 
 abundant and elaborately arranged hair being con- 
 sidered sufficient covering. Both men and 
 women allow their hair to grow long, but the men 
 twist it up under their turbans so that it does not 
 show. 
 
 A fairly deep stream of water ran along one 
 side of the road, and in this the little Javanese 
 children were splashing and wading without any 
 troublesome clothing to impede their movements 
 or procure them a scolding for getting it wet. We 
 saw none of the dodok or crouching and squatting 
 on their heels and sidling along of the natives in 
 the presence of their superiors, that Miss Scid- 
 more speaks of in her book " Java, the Garden of 
 the East/ 1 either here or anywhere else in Java; 
 though doubtless it is still practised in the presence 
 
 158 
 
DJOKJAKARTA THE WATER CASTLE 
 
 of the Sultan. Many changes have taken place in 
 Java even since Miss Scidmore published her 
 book in 1897; the Javanese are becoming more in- 
 dependent, and have given up some of the servile 
 customs that date back to a time when their life 
 and liberty were altogether at the mercy of their 
 rulers. 
 
 Our destination was the old Taman Sarie or 
 Watercastle, an ancient summer residence of a 
 former Sultan. We entered through a gateway 
 in a high wall surrounding a large tract of ground 
 forming a series of gardens. The wall was 
 broken down in many places and the gaps filled 
 with moss, lichens and luxuriant creepers. In 
 the middle of the enclosure was a large lake, and 
 a veritable fairy castle, crowned by a tower called 
 the Maze, 4Ooft. high, rose out of the water. In 
 the days of its splendour it must have looked like 
 one of the palaces described in the Arabian 
 Nights that arose at the bidding of the genii; even 
 in its decay it is wonderfully weird and fascinat- 
 ing. Formerly access to it was by boat across 
 the lake, and by a secret underground passage, 
 but the lake is so choked up with weeds and rub- 
 bish in some parts, that one can pass into the 
 castle without having recourse to either boat or 
 
 159 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 tunnel. A Javanese guide conducted us through 
 winding passages, across wide courtyards, among 
 tanks and ponds the sides of which were green 
 with moss, and the water in them almost hidden 
 by weeds and aquatic plants. Passing under a 
 stone archway elaborately carved, into a small 
 court surrounded by high moss-grown walls, we 
 were told we were now in the bathing place sacred 
 to the Sultan, where he had to perform his ablu- 
 tions before attending prayers at the Mosque. In 
 the centre of this secluded retreat was a tank of 
 water with the same clear stream bubbling up that 
 had cleansed the august person of his Highness 
 in the days so long ago; two flights of steps, green 
 and slimy, led down into the water, one on either 
 side; by the one he descended into, and by the 
 other he ascended out of the water, so that his 
 face should always be turned towards the shrine 
 of the Prophet. A larger and less secluded bath- 
 ing place for his courtiers was close by in an even 
 more neglected condition. Following our guide, 
 we wended our way 
 
 "Through fane and palace court and labyrinth, mined 
 With many a dark and subterranean street 
 through chambers high and deep." 
 
 until, descending by a moss-covered stone stair- 
 
 160 
 
DJOKJAKARTA THE WATER CASTLE 
 
 case, we entered the Sultan's sleeping chamber, 
 deliciously cool and dim, in appearance like a 
 cave hewn out of rock. The bed place had quaint 
 carvings and decorations all round it, and on the 
 stone couch was a covering of soft green moss, 
 now alas! the lurking place of lizards and count- 
 less creeping things. Light fell softly from small 
 openings in the roof, and the soothing sound of 
 running water could be heard. In former times 
 there used to be a contrivance by which a curtain 
 of water could be made to fall over the entrance, 
 thereby rendering more refreshing the cool atmos- 
 phere. Truly a delightful if somewhat damp re- 
 treat from the scorching heat of a Javanese 
 summer afternoon! From this cave of slumber 
 we were conducted along alleys or corridors with 
 glass walls and " fountain lighted roof " through 
 which * ' the green splendours of the water deep ' 
 in the lake above us could be seen; we were shown 
 where, at the Sultan's will, the underground 
 passage could be flooded up to the water-tight 
 gates that admitted to the subterranean part of 
 the palace, so that access to the castle could only 
 be obtained by boat. There was an immense 
 banqueting hall falling into ruins with remains 
 of wonderful archways and pillars; also a deep 
 
 161 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 circular well called the ' spring of music ' 
 around which were built vault-like chambers 
 where the Sultan's retainers could gather to sleep 
 or rest when the noonday sun was high in the 
 heavens; and, near by, an oval tank full of glorious 
 water lilies almost choked by weeds, with pavi- 
 lions enclosed by stately decorated walls that 
 must once have been marvellously beautiful, 
 opening out from it. Truly, it was an enchanting 
 place, and in its pristine beauty, before earth- 
 quakes had shattered its walls and pillar'd 
 porticos, and the ruthless hand of Time had been 
 allowed f to smear with dust those glittering 
 golden towers/' it must have been a veritable 
 Aladdin's palace. Now it made one unutterably 
 sad to see it in the hour of its decay, to 
 
 " Look on its broken arch, its ruined walls, 
 Its chambers desolate and portals foul," 
 
 so that it was almost with a sensation of relief that 
 we passed forth into the bright sunshine and the 
 wonderful gardens and shrubberies where the 
 roses ran riot, and orchids and other bright hued 
 flowers grew in the wildest profusion, where the 
 wild vine and matted creepers hid the stained and 
 broken walls. These gardens cover an immense 
 extent of ground, and must have been a perfect 
 
 162 
 
DJOKJAKARTA THE WATER CASTLE 
 
 Paradise when properly kept and tended; great 
 stone vases full of flowers that fell round them in 
 wreaths and festoons, were placed at regular in- 
 tervals, forming avenues terminating in archways 
 and pergolas covered with roses. Beyond these 
 could be seen the native houses in the kampong, 
 shaded by waving palm and bamboo trees. 
 Hundreds of little children were darting about the 
 courts and garden alleys ready to climb walls and 
 gather flowers for Dutch pennies. Quite a big 
 village has grown up round the old Taman Sarie, 
 unless, indeed, it has existed there from the days 
 of the Sultan for whom the castle was built, nearly 
 four hundred years ago, who would have had 
 his entourage housed within the walls of his castle 
 enclosure as the present Sultan has his retainers 
 inside his Kraton. But for two hundred years 
 now the castle has been left to the lizards and bats. 
 I could have lingered for hours in the wonderful 
 place, but there was much to be seen elsewhere. 
 Leaving the Taman Sarie, we drove to the Aloon 
 Aloon, a large open square in the middle of the 
 town. The palace or kraton of the Sultan is on 
 one side, the gates guarded by two immense 
 waringin trees cut by order of the Sultan into fan- 
 tastic shapes resembling huge umbrellas or square 
 
 163 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 toadstools. To the left is his Highness's private 
 Zoo, containing three leopards and a tiger in 
 cages, and three huge elephants walking at large. 
 These we duly inspected, and then gazed long- 
 ingly at the high walls that concealed the Sultan's 
 residence from view, and watched as they passed 
 slowly through the gates a long procession of 
 about fifty native attendants carrying glass flower 
 vases, each of a different pattern, and intended, 
 no doubt, for some special festival. We should 
 have been glad to pay the Sultan a visit; but no 
 one is allowed to enter the Kraton without the 
 special permission of the Dutch Resident, and this 
 must be obtained in the morning, so that his High- 
 ness may appoint a time convenient to himself to 
 receive the visitors. We did not reach Djokja- 
 karta till late afternoon, and were to spend the 
 whole of the next day at the Boro Boedor temple, 
 so had no time to pay our respects to the Prince, 
 although we had letters of introduction that would 
 have procured us that honour. The Sultan's 
 Kraton is situated within a wall twelve feet high, 
 and more than four miles in circumference. In- 
 side are buildings, streets, ponds, canals, gardens 
 and kampongs, all for the Sultan's retinue, which 
 numbers 15,000. Some of these natives carry on 
 
 164 
 
DJOKJAKARTA THE WATER CASTLE 
 
 trades and industries, such as gold and silver- 
 smith's work, and the batik cloth colouring pro- 
 cess. The Prince owns a magnificent dining hall 
 capable of accommodating six hundred guests; he 
 has a palace for himself, a house for his principal 
 wife, one for the Resident when he honours the 
 Kraton by a visit, a barracks for his native 
 soldiers, stables for his elephants, with many other 
 offices; so that the Kraton is a complete town in 
 itself. He calls the Resident " Papa," and the 
 Resident's wife " Mama," and without the per- 
 mission of the former cannot go outside the 
 Kraton. Djokjakarta also possesses a Vreden- 
 burg or fortress where 500 European soldiers are 
 stationed to keep watch and ward, and guard the 
 Dutch interests in the Principality. 
 
 On our way back to the hotel we drove past the 
 entrance to the house of the Dutch Resident, a 
 stately-looking white building in a beautiful 
 garden, with statues of Buddha sitting under stone 
 pajongs (umbrellas), and looking like sentinels 
 on guard. At the hotel we dismissed the carriage 
 and walked across the road to visit what its owner 
 (Mrs. Noronha, a Eurasian lady) designated the 
 " Old Curiosity Store." She had thoughtfully 
 left her card, which informed us she sold batik 
 
 165 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 sarongs, krises, postcards, etc., for us at the hotel, 
 and was not only willing but eager to give us any 
 information we required. We found she had an 
 excellent collection of sarongs and slendangs and 
 pieces of batik work both in silk and cotton. This 
 batik work is peculiar to Java, and is a most 
 curious process. The natives spin the yarn and 
 weave the cloth, as I was informed, without a 
 loom. The cloth is first steeped in rice water and 
 then stretched on a frame, then with a little funnel 
 (not unlike that used to put sugar icing on cakes) 
 hot wax is poured on the cloth in such a manner 
 as to form a pattern or figure; the material is forth- 
 with plunged into a dye which makes no impres- 
 sion on the wax, but colours the rest of the cloth; 
 when the dye is fixed, hot water removes the wax, 
 which is again applied to another part, and the 
 cloth once more placed in a different dye. This 
 process is repeated until all the required colours 
 and patterns have been obtained. Should red or 
 crimson be one of the colours needed, the cloth is 
 sometimes immersed in oil for two or three days 
 before it is dyed, this being supposed to give a 
 peculiar richness to the colour. As the cloth is 
 batiked on both sides, there is neither right nor 
 wrong side to the material. It is a very tedious 
 
 1 66 
 
DJOKJAKARTA THE WATER CASTLE 
 
 process, but the women are exceedingly clever in 
 doing it, and sit at their frames with little charcoal 
 furnaces beside them for melting the wax. The 
 Susuhunan, Sultan and other Royalties wear batik 
 of a peculiar kind, sacred to them, and no one else 
 dare be seen wearing sarongs with the royal 
 designs or colours. Unfortunately this unique in- 
 dustry has suffered from the introduction by 
 Europeans of cheap printed calicoes with inartistic 
 designs. These designs are not only imitated by 
 the natives, to the detriment of their own artistic 
 tracing, but the calicoes are used instead of the 
 batik cloth for sarongs and slendangs, etc. Soon 
 the genuine Javanese article will be difficult to 
 procure, except at a very high figure; even now 
 some of the more elaborately-designed sarongs 
 cost from 6 to 10 each, and are bought and 
 worn by Dutch ladies. I bought two ordinary 
 ones fairly reasonably; one had a pattern all over 
 it, and the other had in addition a panel. The 
 latter kind is worn in a particular district, and the 
 sarong is so arranged that the panel comes to the 
 front of the wearer. The handkerchiefs for tur- 
 bans are also batiked, some in lovely shades of 
 brown. Mrs. Noronha had a large number of 
 other interesting things to show and sell, amongst 
 
 167 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 them curious paper and cardboard figures, imita- 
 tions of those used in the wayangs, or shadow 
 picture shows, that the Javanese delight in. The 
 real figures are made of leather or buffalo's hide; 
 they are from eighteen inches to two feet in height, 
 and painted, gilded, and ornamented with the 
 greatest care. ^They are supposed to represent 
 different characters in the history of Java from very 
 early times down to the annihilation of the Hindoo 
 empire of Madjapahit. These puppets are 
 jointed and shown as shadows on a screen with 
 the light behind them; considerable expense is in- 
 curred to make them something like the characters 
 they represent; but the face and head are always 
 grotesque and fantastic, so as not to quite repre- 
 sent the human face and lineaments which the law 
 of Islam forbids to be reproduced. While these 
 heroes and heroines are being manipulated from 
 behind, an actor in front recites the story or poem 
 that is represented, and sweet music is discoursed 
 by the gamelan, a band of musical instruments 
 consisting for the most part of small gongs, struck 
 with wooden hammers covered with elastic gum. 
 But there are also stringed instruments played 
 like a harp, and a drum beaten with the hand. 
 The name gamelan is also used to describe the 
 
 1 68 
 
DJOKJAKARTA THE WATER CASTLE 
 
 native xylophone only, and not the whole 
 orchestra. Javanese music is unwritten and 
 played by ear; there are about a hundred national 
 airs. The music of the gamelan is melancholy 
 and a trifle monotonous but not disagreeable. 
 
 In addition to the wayangs or shadow picture 
 plays, there is a performance called topeng played 
 by men with masks. These plays, which are of 
 the nature of our " Dumb Charades," are given 
 in the open air, the spectators forming a circle 
 round the performers. The latter are most 
 sumptuously attired in ancient costumes, the head 
 and face being hidden under an absurd mask. 
 Usually a man called a dalan tells the story, the 
 performers " suiting the action to the word/' 
 These recitals are generally concerned with the 
 history and fortunes, mythical and real, of Prince 
 Panji, grandson of the old Emperor Dewa 
 Kasoema, who established his kingdom at Jang'- 
 gala, situated near the present Sourabaya, in 846. 
 He is said to have introduced the Kris (Javanese 
 or Malay short sword or dagger) into the countries 
 he reigned over (though some ascribe its introduc- 
 tion to Panji) , and to have been far in advance of 
 his time in learning and skill. He had four sons; 
 at his death he divided the island of Java among 
 
 169 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 them, thus setting up four kingdoms instead of 
 one. The eldest son was the father of Panji, a 
 hero as renowned among the Javanese for his 
 valour and marvellous exploits as Hercules among 
 the Greeks. 
 
 We also inspected a collection of Krisses, 
 which though of various shapes and kinds, follow 
 one general pattern. Every Javanese man 
 carries one stuck into his belt at the right side 
 rather towards the back. It is from twelve to 
 eighteen inches long, quite flat, though often wavy 
 or serpentine in shape; sometimes the blade is 
 beautifully damascened, and the hilt made of ivory 
 with intricate carvings, or of gold ornamented with 
 precious stones; the scabbard is correspondingly 
 adorned. But these are for princes and nobles 
 and wealthy Javanese; the common people are 
 content with plain hilts and wooden scabbards. 
 I bought one at the hotel from a travelling peddler, 
 who brought some for our inspection; the blade 
 was damascened and the hilt of ivory, beautifully 
 carved, but the scabbard was of such ancient wood 
 that it was falling to pieces; I was, however, very 
 pleased to get it. 
 
 We had a long tiring day crowded with incident, 
 so were glad to retire betimes, especially as we had 
 
 170 
 
 I 
 
DJOKJAKARTA THE WATER CASTLE 
 
 to start very early next morning. I tried to write 
 up my diary under the lamp in the verandah, but 
 found myself so surrounded by a collection of 
 dying and dead moths, and horrid little insects 
 very much alive, that I gave up in despair and re- 
 tired to my room, to be greeted by processions of 
 little green lizards chasing each other up and 
 down the walls or creeping backwards. I had 
 never seen so many at one time. However, I 
 knew they were harmless, so their gambols did 
 not disturb my slumbers. In Djokja the hotels 
 provide you with a little oil lamp, which burns 
 all night, and is fixed against the wall, and enables 
 you to keep an eye on the lizards. This lamp is 
 the successor of the tumbler of oil with a wick in 
 it, that Miss Scidmore speaks of, and shows how 
 Java is progressing and how up-to-date she is. 
 
 171 
 
 12 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 BORO BOEDOR 
 
 THE next morning was gloriously fine, when at 7 
 a.m. we left the hotel in a motor car to drive the 
 twenty-five miles that lay between Djokjakarta 
 and the famous temple of Boro Boeder (meaning 
 Great or Many Buddhas) . It was fortunate for 
 us that we were travelling in the days of motors, 
 also that we were able to hire one; as thereby much 
 time was saved and the fatigue reduced to a mini- 
 mum. In default of a motor we should have had 
 to go by a little train that ran alongside the road, 
 unprotected by any railing, flanked on either side 
 by booths and basket houses, to a place called 
 Moentilan; here, a ramshackle carriage, the horses 
 harnessed with pieces of rope, would have been in 
 waiting to take us to the river Progo. The bridge 
 has been broken down for many months, and in 
 its stead a primitive raft made of plaited bamboo, 
 similar to that with which the natives build the 
 sides of their houses, and poised on four canoes, 
 
 172 
 
 
BORO BOEDOR 
 
 is the only means of communication with the other 
 side. Standing on this you are paddled across, 
 hoping you may find a conveyance of some sort on 
 the opposite bank, a hope that is seldom realised, 
 unless you take the precaution of arranging with 
 the manager of your hotel at Djokja to secure one 
 to be in readiness for you. Otherwise there is 
 nothing for it but to cover the distance between 
 river and temple by " marrow bone stage," and 
 this means a two mile walk that seems like four 
 Irish miles on a hot afternoon, in spite of most of 
 the way being along a tree-shaded avenue; at least 
 so our friends who made the journey in the way 
 described, told us later; they were unable to get 
 any description of vehicle, and arrived at the 
 temple in too exhausted a state to enjoy it pro- 
 perly. We were spared all this discomfort in our 
 luxurious car, which was driven by an excellent 
 and most careful Javanese chauffeur, and this ex- 
 pedition was without doubt the most enjoyable of 
 the many pleasant drives we had in Java, and the 
 only one we made by motor car. 
 
 The soft, fresh, morning air felt deliciously cool 
 as it gently fanned our faces, while we glided 
 swiftly and noiselessly along the shady roads and 
 through the wayside villages in which the inhabi- 
 ts 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 tants were already astir. The native family 
 groups in their gaily coloured sarongs, enjoying 
 their simple morning meal al fresco, were a most 
 picturesque and fascinating sight. Some were 
 gathered just outside the bamboo houses, with 
 little low wooden stands before them on which 
 were bowls and plates containing rice and various 
 other eatables, and little cups from which they 
 were drinking I know not what; possibly tea or 
 coffee, but if so without milk, which they never 
 touch; the children clustering round for their share 
 of the good things provided, were quite bewitch- 
 ing. As we passed the primitive little markets 
 held on one side of the road, we could see the 
 natives buying from the vendors of food in them, 
 small parcels of cooked rice daintily wrapped in 
 cool bamboo leaves, and fastened with a cactus 
 thorn, or bargaining for the juicy fruits heaped in 
 baskets on the ground. Along the road came men 
 going to work with their tools in their hands or 
 carried on the shoulder; enormous blue and red 
 hats covered their heads, and made delightful bits 
 of colour against the green background; a moving 
 bundle of green stuff turned out to be a carrier 
 balancing on a bamboo pole two huge bundles of 
 fodder, between which his face looked out like that 
 
 174 
 
 
STAIRCASE, BORO BOEDOR 
 
BORO BOEDOR 
 
 of an owl from a monster ivy bush. Across the 
 rice sawahs clumsy-looking grey bullocks were 
 ploughing their way through the swampy soil, 
 urged on by little brown boys innocent of all 
 clothing, who were seated astride their backs; 
 dotted here and there over these paddy fields were 
 groups of men and women toiling up to their knees 
 in muddy water, tending or transplanting what is 
 in their estimation a sacred grain, <f the gift of 
 the gods." The whole way, in fact, was a suc- 
 cession of delightful pictures, and always there 
 was the same background of rice plantations, 
 sometimes flat, sometimes in terraces covered with 
 water glittering in the sunshine or glowing in 
 vivid shades of green, varying from the startingly 
 bright colour of the young shoots newly trans- 
 planted, to the darker, intenser emerald hue of the 
 crops giving promise of harvest. As for the 
 flowers! such a gorgeous array of scarlet, blue, 
 yellow, pink and white blossoms met the eye on 
 every hand and perfumed all the air, that it was 
 almost overpowering, while among the kanaris, 
 palms, and bamboos were some trees ablaze with 
 huge bright scarlet blossoms something like the 
 flame trees (Poinceana regia) of Singapore. 
 In addition to the kampongs by the way, where 
 
 '75 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 the inhabitants were so much in evidence, were 
 other villages enclosed within bamboo palisades 
 almost hidden from sight by the wealth of greenery 
 which covered both the fence and the houses. We 
 noticed also that on the outskirts of each kam- 
 pong was placed a bamboo erection with tiled roof 
 and raised floor, having hanging by the door a 
 hollow log with a stick inside it. This we learned 
 was a rest-house for travellers where they can par- 
 take of food brought with them, and sleep during 
 the noontide heat, secure alike from sun and rain; 
 it serves also as a meeting-place for the villagers, 
 where the news of the day can be discussed. The 
 hollow piece of wood is used as a drum and beaten 
 by the stick. According to the note struck it 
 either invites the natives to come forth from their 
 dwellings and hear a piece of news or an order 
 from the Government, or else it warns them to 
 keep closely indoors, because some one is indulg- 
 ing in the pastime of running " amok." 
 
 The Javanese, in common with the Malays, are 
 subject to this sudden madness, and when taken 
 with a fit of anger a man will rush down the road 
 brandishing a kris. He pursues a straight course, 
 and turns neither to right nor left, but kills every- 
 thing that comes in his way, whether man or beast, 
 
 176 
 
BORO BOEDOR 
 
 and continues his wild career until arrested by 
 native police, who have a special apparatus, con- 
 sisting of a bamboo pole terminating in two large 
 prongs, for catching these madmen. The prongs 
 are pushed under the arms, and so pinioned, the 
 disturber of the peace is overpowered and taken 
 to prison to answer for any crimes he may have 
 committed. The signal to keep inside the house or 
 fence is therefore at times most necessary. We 
 crossed the river by a quaint covered bridge, and 
 continued our way by narrower but not less beauti- 
 ful roads; birds of most brilliant plumage of varied 
 hues soared above us, and gorgeously coloured 
 butterflies of immense size fluttered about us. 
 The rapid and smooth progress, and the strange 
 sights all around, gave one a sensation of unreality, 
 as if it were all a dream. The wheels of Time 
 seemed to have turned back to the era of the 
 Arabian nights, our motor car appeared a 
 magician's chariot rushing through the air, its 
 motive power only the command of our Jinn 
 driver, at whose word we were being transported 
 to our destination with the speed and promptitude 
 of Prince Houssain's magic carpet. 
 
 From such illusions we were awakened by the 
 said driver turning round and calling out, " Boro 
 
 177 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 Boeder! " at the same time pointing to a grey 
 turret-crowned hill in the distance, behind which 
 stood out three magnificent mountains. Soon we 
 entered the avenue of kanari trees leading up to 
 the passangrahan or government hostelry, along 
 which our friends had toiled in the burning sun 
 some days previously. The way was strewn with 
 perfect and imperfect statues of Buddha, also 
 fierce stone lions and dragons in a more or less 
 broken condition, right up to the door of the inn, 
 where two Buddhas and an enormous stone lion 
 kept guard. So ended this wonderful drive which 
 was a fitting prelude to our visit to the most mar- 
 vellous temple the brain of man has ever conceived 
 or human hands executed; a temple without in- 
 terior, pillar or roof, writing or inscription; made 
 of stones cast forth from some fiery volcano, put 
 together without mortar or cement; a shrine for 
 some portion of the ashes of the Great Buddha, on 
 which no skill or labour had been spared to make 
 it worthy of its object. 
 
 Buddhism was founded in India in the sixth 
 century B.C. by Gautama, the son of Suddhodana, 
 who was chief or king of an Aryan tribe called 
 Sakyas. Gautama was afterwards known as 
 Buddha, or " The Perfectly Enlightened One," 
 
 178 
 
BORO BOEDOR 
 
 and also as Sakya-muni, or wise man of the Sakya 
 tribe; his mother's name was Maya. As a youth 
 he occupied himself in studying the problems of 
 existence and the universality of suffering, and 
 while still a young man he gave up home and 
 friends and went forth into the jungle to dwell 
 apart from mankind, living the life of an ascetic 
 and mortifying the flesh in every possible way. 
 Here he was taught by Brahmin recluses many of 
 the mysteries and secrets of life, but after some 
 years he abandoned this mode of living as unpro- 
 fitable, and returned to the world. Then, as he 
 sat under the tree of wisdom came his final battle 
 with the powers of evil, from which he emerged 
 conqueror and attained to perfect illumination and 
 self-conquest. This entitled him to Nirvana, a 
 state of bliss without desire or suffering; but such 
 was his love and pity for humanity that he volun- 
 tarily relinquished it for a time, and went forth 
 again into the world to teach men the lessons he 
 had learned. 
 
 Originally, Buddhism was not strictly speaking 
 a religion, as it claimed no knowledge of God nor 
 of any duty towards Him; it recognised no form 
 of prayer, had no belief in the soul or immortality, 
 nor had it any ritual, priest or sacrifice. It was a 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 system of philosophy, and its principal tenets set 
 forth that suffering being co-existent with life, and 
 desire being the cause of suffering, the aim of each 
 one should be, by living a pure life of self-sacrifice 
 and love, to subdue and finally conquer desire, and 
 so obtain salvation from sin and its consequences. 
 
 This wished for result is gained during a suc- 
 cession of re-births, either in human or animal 
 form; in each period of earthly existence something 
 of the gross and carnal is eliminated until the in- 
 dividual becomes so cleansed and purified that he 
 reaches the state called Nirvana, where no desire 
 is possible, as it is existence without personality. 
 
 For forty-five years Gautama Buddha preached 
 and taught his doctrine throughout the length and 
 breadth of the land; then in the eightieth year of 
 his age he died, and (tradition says) his ashes were 
 divided among eight towns, a portion being 
 allotted for burial in each of them. Three 
 hundred years later, King Asoka caused seven of 
 these tombs to be opened and the ashes in them 
 divided, this time, it is said, into upwards of eighty 
 thousand parts, each portion being carefully and 
 reverently placed in a metal or stone vase, so that 
 wherever the disciples of Buddha should settle, 
 one of these memorial urns containing the 
 
 tie 
 
BORO BOEDOR 
 
 venerated remains should find a place in their 
 midst. 
 
 At first they were merely buried under mounds 
 of earth or tumuli; but later, to preserve them 
 more effectually from hurt or desecration, stone 
 monuments were erected over them in the shape 
 of dagobas, which were supposed to represent the 
 bud of the lotus resting on a pedestal formed by 
 the leaf or open flower of the lotus lily, which is 
 held as a sacred flower by Buddhists all over the 
 world. 
 
 Boro Boedor is without doubt one of these 
 shrines, and the most beautiful of them all. At 
 one time there must have rested in the cavity be- 
 neath the large unfinished Buddha of the topmost 
 dagoba one of the urns or vases containing what 
 was believed to be one of these infinitesimal por- 
 tions of the sacred ashes of the great teacher, 
 Gautama Buddha, but this has long since dis- 
 appeared. 
 
 The temple was erected (as far as can be ascer- 
 tained) about the middle of the seventh century, 
 when Buddhism was at the zenith of its fame in 
 Java, and for three centuries longer it continued 
 to flourish. In 1475, however, the warrior hordes 
 of " The Prophet " swept over the land, and the 
 
 181 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 people were converted to Mohammedanism at the 
 point of the sword. Not that much force was 
 necessary, as the easy-going Javanese embraced 
 the new faith as readily as they had turned from 
 Brahma to Buddha; indeed, by that time the 
 " Great Teacher's ' religion had begun to 
 decline in favour, and many had returned to 
 Brahmanism. A few remained faithful to 
 Buddha, and I like to think that the old tradition 
 is true which says that some of these disciples, 
 afraid lest the glorious shrine which enclosed the 
 ashes of their Master should fall into the hands of 
 enemies, and its terraces be polluted by their foot- 
 steps, covered up with kindly earth the marvellous 
 masonry and intricate carvings, planting over it 
 wild vines, clinging creepers and quick growing 
 trees, until in a very little while the rapid growth 
 of vegetation in the tropics had made the mound 
 which hid such a treasure indistinguishable from 
 other green hills around. 
 
 Many years rolled away, dense forests thick 
 with undergrowth grew up around the buried 
 shrine, whose secret was so well kept that neither 
 legend nor tradition told the tale of its existence, 
 or hinted at its whereabouts. Out of sight and 
 forgotten, undisturbed by friend or foe, for six 
 
 182 
 
BORO BOEDOR 
 
 centuries the Tyandi Barabadur lay concealed in 
 the jungle, till accident revealed in 1814 the exis- 
 tence of this relic of a thousand years ago to some 
 British engineers. Fortunately, Sir Stamford 
 Raffles was at that time in command of the island, 
 and realised at once, from the report received, the 
 great importance of the find. For six weeks over 
 two hundred natives were engaged in cutting down 
 and rooting up trees and ferns and taking the earth 
 off the building. When most of the debris had 
 been cleared away, drawings were made and 
 measurements taken by order of Sir Stamford 
 Raffles. Unfortunately the latter had soon to 
 give up his command, and Java was restored to 
 the Netherlands before the excavations were com- 
 pleted. The Dutch Government, however, was 
 fully alive to the great importance of the discovery, 
 and Dutch archaeologists were quite as keen as 
 English ones, to unearth the buried ruins and in- 
 vestigate the temple's history. Antiquarians and 
 savants have devoted much time and study, not 
 only to Boro Boeder, but also to the numerous 
 ruined temples scattered throughout the length 
 and breadth of Java. But none of them can vie 
 with Boro Boedor in grandeur of conception and 
 elaborativeness of design. It is a miracle of art, 
 
 183 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 the most glorious Buddhist monument in the whole 
 world. Speaking of it Alfred Russell Wallace 
 says, " The amount of human labour and skill ex- 
 pended on the great Pyramid of Egypt sinks into 
 insignificance when compared with that required 
 to complete this sculptured hill temple in the in- 
 terior of Java/' (Malay Archipelago.) 
 
 Dr. Groneman, the honorary president of the 
 Archaeological Society at Djokjakarta, has written 
 a most excellent and comprehensive explanatory 
 pamphlet about Boro Boedor, which has been 
 translated into English and can be obtained on 
 the spot. It furnishes a useful, if somewhat 
 learned, guide book to the ruins, and especially 
 the bas-reliefs. I am greatly indebted to it for 
 much of the information concerning the temple I 
 am able to give. 
 
 The first view of Boro Boedor, as seen from the 
 door of the passagrahan, gives one a feeling of 
 bewildered astonishment, not unaccompanied by 
 disappointment. It is unlike one's preconceived 
 notions, and appears a confused mass of broken 
 walls and pinnacles and huge grey stones as it 
 stands out stark and bare against the intense 
 blue sky. No mantle of clinging creeper softens 
 the hard, jagged outlines, no covering of velvety 
 
 184 
 
BORO BOEDOR 
 
 green moss conceals the broken stones, and this 
 is the more striking when contrasted with the 
 superabundant luxuriant vegetation all around. 
 Not until you cross the intervening space and 
 stand on the first of the terraces do you begin to 
 realise the superlative nature of the vast design, 
 and the enormous amount of time and toil ex- 
 pended on a building in which almost every stone 
 has its intricate carving. You are filled with awe 
 and wonder; surely giants must have built and 
 elfs and gnomes ornamented this miracle of art; 
 it is impossible it can have been wrought by human 
 hands ! 
 
 As you pass round the galleries engraved on 
 either side, with clear-cut pictures in stone, sur- 
 mounted by pinnacles and cupolas adorned with 
 graceful flower or weird looking animal, and look 
 up to find the inscrutable eyes of the calm-faced 
 Buddhas fixed on you at every turn; as you ascend 
 from terrace to terrace and find new wonders and 
 fresh splendours surrounding you on all sides, you 
 begin to understand that months might be spent in 
 examining this peerless edifice without exhausting 
 its marvels or finding out all its treasures. No 
 description in writing can convey more than the 
 faintest idea of this unique temple; its grandeur is 
 
 185 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 too vast and overwhelming, and there is nothing 
 in the world to which it can be compared. It is 
 situated in the Residency of Kadu in Mid Java, 
 near the Progo river, in the midst of a fertile plain. 
 In form it is a many-sided pyramid, and each side 
 of the base measures six hundred feet. Though 
 so broad at the base, it is not more than a hundred 
 feet high, and has no interior, the natural conical 
 shaped hill or mound, which forms the centre or 
 core, being enclosed by a series of terraces built 
 right round it. Starting from the bottom and 
 mounting upward, there is first the remains of a 
 broad platform or terrace covered with stones 
 which hide the original lowest or outer terrace four 
 feet below. Dr. Groneman obtained leave from 
 the Government to have this latter partially un- 
 covered, and was rewarded by finding a great 
 number of beautiful bas-reliefs (160), the exis- 
 tence of which was unknown till then. These 
 were photographed and then carefully covered up 
 again, so are not accessible to the ordinary tourist. 
 The present outer terrace is in a very ruined con- 
 dition, and the openwork parapet which formerly 
 enclosed it has completely disappeared; from it 
 rise one above the other five square terraces to 
 which access is obtained by high stone steps form- 
 
 186 
 
BORO BOEDOR 
 
 ing a continuous flight of stairs to the top. There 
 are four of these staircases, one in the middle of 
 each side of the temple, and at each terrace an 
 archway is built over the stairs and profusely 
 carved and ornamented and surmounted by a 
 grotesque head. Formerly there was a balus- 
 trade on either side issuing from lions' mouths and 
 terminating in serpents' tails, and the opening at 
 each terrace was guarded by sitting lions; there 
 were also gates, as trie stone sockets for hinges can 
 be plainly seen, but all these have disappeared. 
 
 The wall surrounding each terrace is raised 
 above the succeeding terrace and forms a parapet 
 to it. Both sides of walls and parapets alike are 
 covered with the most wonderful bas-reliefs de- 
 picting scenes from the life of Buddha, and these 
 are the most marvellous and striking characteris- 
 tics of the temple. Jutting out from the walls at 
 regular intervals are buttresses or projections ex- 
 tending more than half-way across the terrace. 
 These projections are on a level with the terrace 
 below, but the upper portion is fashioned into an 
 alcove or niche surmounted by stone spires and 
 cupolas, all most richly decorated and forming a 
 shrine for a life-size image of Buddha. Jutting 
 out from the projection below the statue, but fac- 
 
 187 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 ing towards the outer wall is a weird-looking 
 grotesque head of some mythical animal, some- 
 thing like the gargoyles on cathedrals, and 
 evidently used as a spout to drain off the water. 
 The Buddhas are seated on lotus leaf cushions or 
 thrones, with legs crossed, tailor fashion (sila, as 
 the Javanese term is) , with a halo or disc round 
 the head. There are 432 of these projecting 
 niches or shrines containing Buddhas, all of whom 
 face outwards towards the four points of the com- 
 pass. The figures are nude, with the exception 
 of what Dr. Groneman calls " a thin cloak, the 
 same that is worn by the monks of the Southern 
 church/' over the left shoulder, but some term this 
 " the Brahmanic cord," and it certainly looks 
 more like a cord than a cloak. The head is 
 covered with short curls, and has the tiara or 
 round hair knot on the top. Passing from terrace 
 to terrace under successive arches over the stair- 
 case, until we have ascended to the fifth, we find 
 ourselves before a circular terrace; there are three 
 of these, not enclosed by walls but outlined by a 
 row of dagobas of pierced stone, seventy-two in 
 number, looking like huge bells, and intended to 
 represent the bud of the lotus flower. There are 
 thirty-two of these ranged at regular intervals 
 
 1 88 
 

 
 
BORO BOEDOR 
 
 round the first terrace, then seven or eight steps 
 higher the second has twenty-four, and higher 
 again, where the hill is narrower, there are only 
 sixteen, enclosing the third and last terrace. Each 
 of these dagobas rests on a lotus leaf base, and 
 contains a statue of Buddha in the same posture as 
 the Buddhas below, but facing inwards, appar- 
 ently gazing forth through the stone lattice work 
 at the great central dome, rising in the middle of 
 the third or highest terrace. Alike in form to the 
 other dagobas, but many times larger, this huge, 
 supreme one rears itself far above the surrounding 
 masonry, forming the crowning point or apex of 
 the whole structure. Through being on the top 
 it has suffered most of all from the long burial, 
 and only part of it remains. When it was dis- 
 covered it was completely closed; on being opened 
 it was found to contain an enormous statue of 
 Buddha in an unfinished condition, seated on a 
 platform which covered a deep cavity. In this no 
 doubt once reposed the memorial urn containing 
 the sacred ashes. Leading from this small 
 chamber is a larger one, on a lower level, which 
 was probably made use of by the priests in con- 
 nection with their occult observances. A great 
 deal of controversy has raged round the signifi- 
 
 189 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 cance and meaning of the unfinished condition of 
 the central Buddha, but it still remains a matter of 
 conjecture, as neither writing nor inscription 
 appears in any part of the temple to give any ex- 
 planation. Some archaeologists consider the in- 
 complete figure depicts Buddha as having attained 
 Nirvana, and now wholly separated from the 
 world and dwelling in a region beyond it; he has 
 passed into the state of Parinirvana or non-exis- 
 tence, which means absorption in the Infinite, the 
 ultimate aim of all devout Buddhists. The un- 
 finished state of the statue is symbolical of the 
 imperfect knowledge possessed by the artist of the 
 form the great Teacher bears in his beatific con- 
 dition. 
 
 Dr. Groneman suggests a much more matter 
 of fact explanation; in his opinion, the statue was 
 not completed because it was never intended to be 
 seen, and therefore time and labour spent on 
 finishing it would have been wasted. 
 
 Returning to the square terraces, we find, as 
 Dr. Groneman tells us, that each of them " is 
 about ten feet above the preceding one, and they 
 are connected by flights of stairs of about ten 
 steps each; that each gallery has a width between 
 the walls of about seven feet, and the walls are 
 
 five feet thick." 
 
 190 
 
BORO BOEDOR 
 
 The Buddhas in the niches or shrines are all 
 exactly alike except for the position of the right 
 hand; the left hand invariably rests on the lap, 
 the back of the hand laid on the right foot. But 
 the right hand of the Buddhas on the first four 
 terraces vary according to which point of the com- 
 pass the figure faces. Those looking towards 
 the North have the right hand raised with palm 
 to the front and fingers pointing upwards; this is 
 supposed to represent Buddha expounding the 
 law. Those facing South have the back of the 
 right hand resting on the right thigh, the open 
 palm signifying Buddha teaching. Those with 
 face turned to the East have the palm of the right 
 hand on the lap, which shows Buddha learning. 
 With face turned to the West (sunset) the two 
 hands are side by side on the lap, palms upwards, 
 depicting the Teacher in meditation. The fifth 
 or last square terrace (or wall) commands all four 
 quarters (or the zenith) , and on it the figures are 
 distinguished by having the right hand upraised, 
 the tip of the index finger bent over and touching 
 the thumb, so as to form a circle, the symbol of the 
 sun. This is presumably Buddha demonstrating 
 and explaining the Buddhistic doctrine of which 
 the circle was also symbolic. In the three circular 
 
 191 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 terraces, where the Buddhas are imprisoned in the 
 stone bells, with rhombic openings, and facing 
 inwards, both hands are held in front of them, the 
 right one above the left, with bent fingers curved 
 shell-like over it. These represent Buddha in 
 Nirvana in profound meditation. 
 
 Dr. Groneman points out that the Buddhas of 
 the five square terraces are seated on lotus thrones 
 with a halo of light round the head, and probably 
 are intended to represent the rule of Buddha over 
 the world of men and animals. Those in the bell- 
 shaped dagobas have no halo, and their faces are 
 turned away from the earth; they show Buddha as 
 having left the world and ruling over spheres 
 above and beyond it. 
 
 It was Wilhelm Von Humboldt that first drew 
 attention to the five different attitudes of the 
 Buddhas of Boro Boedor and compared them with 
 the five Dhyani-Buddhas. Three of these latter, 
 Vairochana, Akshobya, and Ratna-Sambhava, 
 ruled in succession during thousands of years over 
 three successive worlds which have now dis- 
 appeared. The fourth, Gautama Buddha Sakya- 
 Muni, has reigned for many centuries over this 
 world, but he also must pass away, and this earth 
 be destroyed and a new one created. Then 
 
 192 
 
BORO BOEDOR 
 
 will come the fifth and last, Amogasiddha, the 
 Buddha of Love. Dr. Groneman, to whom I am 
 indebted for the above particulars, does not agree 
 with Humboldt, and shows how in many respects 
 the Buddhas at Boro Boedor differ considerably 
 from the Dhyani Buddhas of Nepal, though he 
 acknowledges there are certain points of agree- 
 ment. 
 
 From the Buddhas we turn to examine the mar- 
 vellous bas-reliefs that adorn all the walls. They 
 are so numerous that if placed in a straight line 
 they would extend for three miles. Except in a 
 few instances they are as clearly cut and vivid as 
 a thousand years ago; full of force and delicacy 
 and not without humourous touches; these carv- 
 ings in stone represent scenes from the life of 
 Buddha and his disciples, and illustrate some of 
 the many legends with which his name is 
 associated. 
 
 The story of Buddha, from his leaving his lotus 
 throne to descend into the world to his future 
 mother, up to the time he attains Nirvana, is set 
 forth in " the language of plastic art >J ; incident- 
 ally also, are depicted the manners and customs 
 of the seventh century, which so much resemble 
 those of the twentieth, that many of the scenes 
 
 193 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 sculptured on these hoary walls are enacted to-day 
 in the kampongs and sawahs, and elsewhere 
 throughout Java. The clumsy buffalo still draws 
 the primitive plough, the native continues to 
 gather the ripe rice ear by ear, and to carry home 
 the sheaves on a shoulder pole of identical shape; 
 women carry water vessels of the same ancient 
 pattern on their heads, and the dancing girls prac- 
 tice the graceful evolutions that found favour 
 before the Sultan and Princes of the mighty but 
 long vanished Empire of Mataram. Records of 
 court life and ceremonial, in which the royal 
 umbrellas and state caparisoned elephants bear a 
 conspicuous part; life in the fields showing the 
 sowing, planting and reaping of the sacred grain; 
 scenes in the forest and jungle where the sinuous 
 snake winds his way through the grass, the 
 monkeys frolic in the trees, and the birds hover in 
 the air; all have their place in this unique picture 
 gallery. 
 
 Buddha appears in them in various forms and 
 avocations; at one time he is riding his famous 
 horse Kanthaka, and at another weighing birds 
 in a scale as Thoth weighed souls in Egyptian 
 sculpture; he is seen seated on rushes under a fig 
 tree which henceforth becomes the venerated Bo 
 
 194 
 
BORO BOEDOR 
 
 tree or tree of wisdom; he is engaged in his 
 struggle with the evil one and comes off con- 
 queror. One series gives some of his re-incarna- 
 tions, he is born a king and riding a white 
 elephant, then becomes a mendicant asking alms; 
 here he is an old seaman accompanying a wealthy 
 merchant on a voyage, and a quaint fully rigged 
 three-masted ship is portrayed; again he is a 
 Brahmin living in a primeval forest, and thus it 
 goes on showing successive re-births. He is also 
 an animal in some of his incarnations, and takes in 
 turn the shape of an elephant, stag, wild bull, 
 monkey, swan, quail, woodpecker, fish, turtle, 
 hare, etc. As a turtle he saves the passengers 
 and crew of a shipwrecked vessel, carrying them 
 on his back to a desert island, where, as there is 
 no food, he offers his body to be eaten. As a hare, 
 he has nothing to give the Lord of Heaven to eat 
 except bitter grass, so throws himself on the fire 
 to be roasted for Indra's meal, but is rescued un- 
 hurt and taken to heaven. All these and 
 hundreds more are depicted with such poetic sym- 
 bolism, such harmony of purpose and minuteness 
 of detail, and executed with such lavish 
 ornamentation and intricate carving that one 
 stands amazed. The cornices of the outer walls 
 
 195 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 are decorated with festoons of groups of birds, and 
 bands of rosettes of varied but ever graceful form 
 and figure, whether of man or animal, flower or 
 fruit, so perfectly finished that the artistic skill and 
 unwearied patience of those ancient workmen (to 
 whom it must have been a labour of love and a 
 religious rite) are a rebuke to the less con- 
 scientious craftsman of to-day. 
 
 We walked on a roasting hot afternoon through 
 gallery after gallery of these marvellous sculp- 
 tures, and, beautiful as they were, it was very 
 tiring work, and we would fain have had them 
 transplanted to a more temperate region. If all 
 the hundreds of stone pajongs depicted before us 
 had been transformed into one huge, real 
 umbrella, it would have been no more protection 
 from that scorching sun than a cobweb. We 
 toiled up the steep stone steps leading to the 
 highest terrace, where the Buddhas in Nirvana 
 sheltered from the sun in their lotus bud dagobas, 
 eternally meditate, gazing out through their stone 
 lattice with unseeing eyes and mysterious look, 
 ever calm and inscrutable, unhurt by the many 
 centuries of neglect that have passed over their 
 heads. Unaffected by the tourists who come at 
 intervals to look and wonder, and sometimes to 
 
 196 
 
BORO BOEDOR 
 
 envy their cool retreat, they hold their vigil round 
 the shrine which once contained some of the ashes 
 of the beloved Master. Up to that shrine we 
 climbed by the rude staircase that leads to the 
 top, and then such a magnificent panorama was 
 spread out before us that heat and fatigue were 
 alike forgotten. From where we stood the view 
 extended on every side for miles; three great vol- 
 canic mountains rose majestic from a vast plain 
 Soemboeng, of sugar loaf form; Merbaboe, at 
 whose base the documents conveying Java to the 
 English were signed in 1811; and Merapi, from 
 whose crater death and destruction have too often 
 issued. Other peaks beyond were faintly out' 
 lined against the horizon, and it is said that on a 
 very clear day no less than nine volcanoes can 
 be distinguished. The plain itself was one great 
 fertile garden covered with rice fields, tobacco, 
 tea, and indigo plantations, and studded with palm 
 groves marking the sites of kampongs. The 
 river Progo, like a streak of silver, wound its way 
 along; a soft haze gave a mirage-like effect to hill 
 and plain, and entranced by such a glorious pros- 
 pect, we echoed Miss Marianne North's words, 
 uttered on this spot forty years before, " the 
 finest landscape I have ever seen." 
 
 197 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 Turning from Nature's wonders around us to 
 man's stupendous work beneath us, we looked 
 down upon the venerable pile of timeworn stones, 
 and into the marvellous sculptured terraces, over 
 which the silent, mysterious Buddhas had watched 
 for so many centuries, keeping vigil first in the 
 heyday of the wondrous shrine's glory and splen- 
 dour, and then in the profound darkness of its 
 buried period. Now that once more the light of 
 sun and stars shines upon them, they look with 
 sad, unfathomable eyes on the ruins, " yet beau- 
 teous in decay " of its former grandeur, a gran- 
 deur so transcendent that we could almost believe 
 in the truth of the old tradition that has grown up 
 around it, which tells how the temple rose in one 
 night at the bidding of genii. 
 
 Our time at Boro Boedor was all too short; had 
 we known we would have arranged to spend the 
 night at the passangrahan, as the temple ought to 
 be seen just before sunrise, when it takes on its 
 most weird and mysterious aspect in the grey light 
 before dawn, it also should be viewed at sunset, 
 when it is bathed in rich, glowing colours that 
 give to statues and carvings the semblance of life. 
 It was too late, however, to make any change in 
 our plans, and most reluctantly we tore ourselves 
 
 198 
 
BORO BOEDOR 
 
 away before we had seen one quarter of its glories, 
 though what we had seen sufficed to fill our minds 
 with awe and wonder. 
 
 The Bromo volcano in the Tengger Mountains 
 and the Boro Boeder temple near Djokjakarta 
 stand out in my memory as the two great sights of 
 Java. It seems as though Nature and Man vie 
 with one another in producing unique monuments 
 of the power of the former and the skill of the 
 latter. From Boro Boeder we drove to the beau- 
 tiful Tjandi Mendoet (also a Buddhist Temple) , 
 which is on the other side of the river Progo, a 
 little over a mile from Boro Boedor. 
 
 For many years its existence was unsuspected, 
 and it lay hidden in the depths of the jungle 
 covered with the ashes of the neighbouring vol- 
 cano Merapi. 
 
 In 1835 it was discovered by a Dutchman named 
 Hartman; when the temple was exposed to view 
 it was found that the original outlines of the struc- 
 ture were well preserved, and judging from the 
 design and decoration, it appeared to have been 
 built about the same time as Boro Boedor, or 
 possibly a little later. 
 
 The temple is octagonal in form, and is crowned 
 by a pyramidal cupola; the body of the building 
 
 199 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 is 46 feet square, and rises to a height of over 60 
 feet. An arched doorway gives access to the in- 
 terior, and in the entrance are some very beautiful 
 bas-reliefs. 
 
 On passing into the dimly lighted inner 
 chamber (21 feet square) one is confronted by 
 three colossal statues, one facing the entrance and 
 one on either side. These statues are all repre- 
 sentations of Buddha, and have been called by 
 some the " Buddhist Trinity." The Central 
 Statue is n feet high, and quite plain and un- 
 adorned except for the Brahmanic cord, in striking 
 contrast to the elaborately decorated smaller 
 figures on either side, which are each eight feet 
 high. 
 
 The whole temple is in a very ruined condi- 
 tion, but many of the bas-reliefs are marvellously 
 perfect, especially one in the entrance to the in- 
 terior, on which Buddha is depicted seated under 
 a " Bo " tree, whose leaves have spread them- 
 selves out over his head, so as to form a pajong or 
 state umbrella; groups of worshippers are present- 
 ing him with offerings and incense, while Buddha 
 appears to be addressing to them words of wisdom. 
 The figures in this sculpture are executed with 
 wonderful skill and delicacy, and show little trace 
 
 200 
 
1 
 
 CENTRAL BUDDHA, MENDOET TEMPLE 
 
BORO BOEDOR 
 
 of their long burial. We were also much in- 
 terested in another fine bas-relief, in which 
 Buddha appears as an infant in his mother's arms, 
 for it might easily have been a representation of 
 the Madonna and Child, as depicted by Italian 
 artists. 
 
 There are other ruined temples in the same 
 neighbourhood which we would gladly have 
 visited had time permitted, such as the majestic 
 ruins of Prambanan on the banks of the river Opak 
 between Djokja and Solo. Prambanan is 
 superior to Mendoet both in architecture and in 
 beauty of detail, and is famous as containing the 
 exquisite statue of Loro Jonggran, the " pure 
 virgin " of the Javanese, and consort of Siva, who 
 is worshipped in India under the name of Kali. 
 
 This beautiful image is eight-armed, and stands 
 six feet high; the whole ruin is often named after 
 it, and it is referred to as the Tjandi Loro Jong- 
 gran. One of the bas-reliefs that adorns the room 
 in which the statue is placed, is known as the 
 " Three Graces." 
 
 Then there are the ruins of Tjandi Sewoe, or 
 
 ' The Thousand Temples/ 1 the largest structure 
 
 among all the Buddhist monuments that has yet 
 
 been discovered in Java, which are situated a short 
 
 201 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 distance from Prambanan. They consist of a 
 large central temple, surrounded by four rows of 
 smaller ones, 240 in number. Formerly these 
 were enclosed by three walls, but only a portion 
 of the innermost one remains. The giant images 
 of kneeling watchmen still guard the four roads 
 leading to the four entrances, but the four temples 
 that stood near the watchmen have been com- 
 pletely destroyed, probably by an earthquake. 
 
 Other notable ruins are the Tjandi Singsosari, 
 or " Temple of the Garden of the Lion," which 
 is to be found on a plain at the foot of the Tengger 
 Mountains, about four miles from Malang; also 
 the numerous temples on the Dieng plateau, of 
 which there are over 400 in a more or less ruined 
 condition; the most perfect of these are the five 
 Ardjoeno temples, and the Tjandi Bima or 
 " House with the Heads." 
 
 Months might be spent in visiting and examin- 
 ing these " stupendous and finished specimens of 
 human labour and of the science and taste of ages 
 long since forgot." 
 
 202 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 GARGET; LAKE BAGENDIT; VALLEY OF DEATH; 
 UPAS TREE 
 
 ON our way back from Boro Boeder and 
 Mendoet, we had a terrific thunderstorm and the 
 rain fell in torrents. All the picturesque scenes 
 of our morning drive were blotted out by a cur- 
 tain of mist and rain, and our motor splashed 
 through what might easily have been mistaken 
 for a shallow river, such a deluge of water poured 
 along the road. We were quite snug and dry in 
 our comfortable car, which afforded adequate 
 protection from wind and rain, but it was dis- 
 appointing to miss the charming views. Our 
 only mishap (if one could call it so) arose from 
 my thoughtlessly placing my camera on the floor 
 of the car, which was extremely hot, owing to 
 the speed at which we were going. Fortunately 
 I discovered my mistake before all the films were 
 spoiled, but some were blurred and others ren- 
 dered useless by the celluloid partially melting 
 
 203 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 and so obliterating the impression. It was most 
 unlucky ! 
 
 We got back to Djokja in good time and left 
 the thunderstorm behind us, but not the rain, 
 which came down persistently the rest of the 
 evening; the atmosphere was most sultry and 
 oppressive, with no cooling breeze to refresh us. 
 This sort of weather seemed to have a most ex- 
 citing effect on the lizards, as they chased each 
 other up and down the wall with added energy 
 and in larger numbers than on the previous night, 
 their weird call of " chuck, chuck," being more 
 persistent than heretofore. I did not molest 
 them, as the Javanese say that to kill a gheko or 
 lizard brings disaster on the slayer; but I was 
 glad to be safely behind mosquito curtains, as I 
 watched their antics by the dim light of the night- 
 lamp, while I pondered on all the marvels I had 
 seen that day, till my waking thoughts of mysteri- 
 ous temples and solemn-faced Buddhas were 
 merged in the fantasies of true dreamland. 
 
 Rather close and uncertain weather greeted us 
 next morning for our train journey to Garoet, 
 and the rain seemed perilously near; fortunately 
 it did not fall, but the atmosphere was misty and 
 prevented our having as good a view as we 
 
 204 
 
GARGET; LAKE BAGENDIT 
 
 should have liked of the magnificent mountains 
 as we made our way up into their midst. 
 
 It is a long journey from Djokja to the pretty 
 little town and delightful summer resort of 
 Garoet, which is situated on a plateau ^QO feet 
 above the level of the sea, and encircled by no 
 fewer than fourteen volcanic mountains, the 
 largest of which is Goenoeng Goentor, or 
 Black Thunder mountain. Garoet was once a 
 holy city, undefiled by the white man's tread, for- 
 bidden to Europeans. This is all changed and 
 it has become a recognised health resort and 
 summer station, where, as at Tosari, the jaded 
 Western, worn out by the fiery heat in the cities 
 of the plain or by the sea, can come to be cooled 
 and invigorated; it is also a centre from which 
 the tourist can make expeditions to the marvel- 
 lous sights in its vicinity. Our train journey was 
 full of interest, though in the beginning the in- 
 terminable rice fields were a trifle monotonous; 
 but as we mounted higher the flat fields gave 
 place to a series of rounded or curved terraces, 
 on which the precious grain was grown, with a 
 much prettier effect, as the water dripping from 
 terrace to terrace formed huge pools or miniature 
 lakes which reflected the azure of the sky and 
 
 205 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 glittered in the sun. From the enormous tracts 
 of land used for the cultivation of rice, one might 
 suppose Java could supply the whole world with 
 that commodity, whereas there is not much more 
 than suffices for her own consumption. We 
 passed over high bridges spanning deep ravines, 
 in whose depths one could catch a glimpse of 
 the white foam of the torrent as it dashed on its 
 way; we crossed tracts of dark forest, where the 
 dense undergrowth and tree ferns grew up almost 
 to the line, showing that a clearing ha'd been 
 made through virgin forest for the railroad. 
 Then our train, ever ascending, wound round a 
 steep declivity, and from a dizzy height the plain 
 far below could be seen. Another bit of forest 
 and then we emerged on to a plateau dotted here 
 anH there with clumps of bamboo and waving 
 palm trees, indicating kampongs. On this 
 plateau the mountains seemed quite to surround 
 anH hem us in, and although the floating grey 
 clouds only permitted some of the peaks to be 
 visible against the sky, yet the effect of such a 
 number of mighty mountains in close proximity, 
 most of them with fire still slumbering in their 
 hearts, was most solemn and awe-inspiring, in 
 spite of the tantalising mist-curtain which was 
 being perpetually raised and lowered. 
 
 206 
 
GARGET; LAKE BAGENDIT 
 
 While still among the rice plantations we par- 
 took of an excellent lunch in the restaurant car, 
 and we were able to reserve the contents of our 
 Thermos flasks for afternoon tea. 
 
 About six o'clock we reached Tjibatoe, where 
 we had to change trains, as Garoet is off the main 
 line. Here we were besieged by swarms of 
 coolies, who, with much chattering and gesticula- 
 tion, seized our luggage to transfer it to the other 
 train. Even had we understood and spoken their 
 language, I doubt if we could have made our- 
 selves heard in such a babel ; as it was, we stood 
 helpless, watching our beloved and necessary 
 possessions carried off before our eyes, till at last, 
 to our joy, our guide, George, appeared, and 
 grasping the situation, with a few sharp sentences 
 spoken with a commanding air, rescued the 
 baggage from the multitude, and permitted about 
 six coolies to have the honour of taking it to the 
 Garoet train and depositing it in our carriage. 
 This latter was quite different to any we had 
 been in, and was just like an old-fashioned pew 
 in an ancient church; there was a table in the 
 middle with chairs round it, and even the tin 
 sconces with candles in them hanging on the 
 walls, heightened the illusion, for I have often 
 
 207 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 seen similar ones in village churches. They gave 
 a poor and most inadequate light. There was 
 room and to spare for all our boxes and bags, and 
 we had the compartment to ourselves. The dim- 
 ness of the light was not of much consequence, 
 as it was a very short run from Tjibatoe to Garoet. 
 At the station there, we procured a carriage with- 
 out difficulty, and a few minutes 7 drive brought 
 us to our hotel, the Van Horck, one of the 
 prettiest and most comfortable we visited in 
 Java. 
 
 It was bewildering to be ushered, dusty and 
 travel-stained as we were, from the darkness out- 
 side into a brilliantly-lighted dining room full of 
 people in evening dress; but a most courteous 
 landlord stepped forward and welcomed us in 
 English and conducted us to very charming 
 rooms. These were most spacious, and con- 
 tained enormous beds, the biggest we slept in 
 anywhere in Java, either before or after our stay 
 in Garoet. They must have been eight feet 
 square, and one could move on to a fresh, cool 
 spot many times in the night. From the verandah 
 outside the rooms, our outlook was a garden ; as 
 trees, shrubs and flowers were dimly visible by 
 the light of Japanese lanterns hung on the trees, 
 
 208 
 
GARGET; LAKE BAGENDIT 
 
 while the grass itself was ablaze with the light of 
 thousands of fire-flies. Nowhere else did we see 
 them in such numbers or giving forth such a 
 brilliant illumination, and one could easily believe 
 the stories of Javanese burglars using them as 
 dark lanterns for their midnight prowlings. 
 
 This hotel was in many ways much the nicest 
 we had been in. The rooms were not only large 
 and airy, but the portion of verandah in front, 
 which served as sitting-room, was screened off on 
 either side, so you had a cosy and almost private 
 lounge. Only when the passer-by came directly 
 in front could he see or be seen, and as we were 
 in a particularly quiet corner of the hotel there 
 were few to disturb us. A hanging lamp over 
 quite a good-sized table gave a most brilliant 
 light, and the place was perfect for reading or 
 writing, when one had learned to ignore the 
 insects swarming around. Java has its own par- 
 ticular brands of these, and the light acts as a 
 magnet to attract them, as well as the moths and 
 bats, etc., known to us in England. Some of 
 the bats are huge; indeed Java boasts of the 
 largest species of bat yet discovered, called by 
 the natives Kalong (Steropus Javanicus); it 
 measures , full five feet when its wings are ex- 
 
 209 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 panded. I don't know whether we saw it, but 
 we certainly saw some enormous ones, and among 
 them the Lowo or dog bat (Pteropus rostrabus), 
 which is not so common as the Kalong. 
 
 There is also a very tiny fly which is a great 
 pest; Java teems with them, and day or night 
 makes no difference to their ravages. They get 
 into or on to every description of food, more 
 especially sugar and sweet things ; if you do not 
 cover eatables they are soon black with them. 
 They are so tiny as to be hardly visible, but if you 
 put a lump of sugar on the table, in a couple of 
 seconds it will be hidden under hundreds of the 
 small flies which have settled on it. There is no 
 possibility of getting rid of them all, and no doubt 
 we swallowed hundreds. 
 
 The lizards in Garoet were as numerous and 
 active as in Djokja, but they are said to wage 
 war on the mosquitos, which they eat. There is 
 a horrid and dangerous lizard called a blood- 
 sucker, whose bite is poisonous, but he is very 
 shy and rarely attacks except when on the de- 
 fensive. The Garoet lizards had different notes 
 of call, " Tooky, Tooky; Becky, Becky," being 
 used as well as " Chuck, Chuck " ; no doubt there 
 are many species of these animals. Their noise 
 
 210 
 
GAROET; LAKE BAGENDIT 
 
 did not disturb our slumbers, and after a good 
 night's rest we awakened to find the weather most 
 propitious for our excursion to Lake Bagendit. 
 From our verandah we looked with interest on 
 the pretty garden that had been so shadowy the 
 evening before in the uncertain light shed by 
 lanterns and fire-flies, and found it even more 
 charming than we had expected. 
 
 Postponing our examination of Garoet itself 
 until the afternoon, we set forth in carriages to 
 drive to Lake Bagendit, one of the most famous 
 of the excursions from Garoet. The lake is about 
 an hour's drive through the most delightful 
 scenery, not unlike the road from Djokja to Boro 
 Boeder for the first part of the way; the same 
 long, straight avenues bordered by shady trees 
 with rice plantations on either side, sometimes 
 with groves of bamboos and little bits of wood or 
 copses, with waving palm trees of various kinds. 
 In the distance could be seen the tea and coffee 
 plantations and the outlines of dense forests 
 where sportsmen go to shoot big game. All 
 around were the marvellous mountains more 
 clear and distinct than the day before, and look- 
 ing very near, but in reality a long way off ; smoke 
 was issuing forth from some of them, but none 
 
 211 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 was active at that particular time. In the flat 
 rice fields little boys sat in bamboo huts poised 
 on four thin poles erected in the middle of the 
 sawah and drove the birds away from the ripe 
 grain. The flat rice plantations were succeeded 
 by curved terraces, in shape very much like the 
 pictures of the pink and white terraces in New 
 Zealand, before they were destroyed by the erup- 
 tion of Mount Tarawera. In some of the fields 
 the natives were gathering in the rice in one part, 
 while in another small grey bullocks were draw- 
 ing a primitive-looking plough through watery 
 mud, under the direction of a tiny unclothed 
 J avanese boy. There was " water, water every- 
 where," lakes and pools and running streams. 
 No wonder the air was so charged with moisture 
 and that one's boots became covered with blue 
 mould in a night! Such an amount of water 
 acted upon by a hot sun would turn any place 
 into a vapour bath. 
 
 The way to Lake Bagendit lies through a 
 native village, which is entered by a high gate- 
 way of bamboo. Here we were greeted by 
 swarms of little children, all eager to get pennies 
 in exchange for bunches of flowers and curious 
 looking little basket traps for catching small fish ; 
 
 212 
 
GARGET; LAKE BAGENDIT 
 
 quaint miniature copies of those used by the men 
 for taking the larger fish. The village was a 
 typical Javanese one, each small brown basket 
 house almost buried in bamboo, banana, and palm 
 trees. One principal street ran down the middle 
 to the shore of the lake and as we approached we 
 heard the sound of music. We found it pro- 
 ceeded from a band of musicians stationed under 
 trees at the water's edge and playing on the 
 strange bamboo instrument called the anklung. 
 These are made of bamboo tubes, each instrument 
 when shaken producing one note; these notes 
 range from treble to bass and vary in tone accord- 
 ing to the size of the instrument. They are 
 rapidly shaken one after the other, in whatever 
 order is essential to the desired tune. They pro- 
 duce a weird kind of music, but it is most effec- 
 tive, especially when heard across the water. 
 Just beyond where the musicians sat was an open- 
 ing, showing the lake and a little landing-stage; 
 as we stepped on to the latter a most enchanting 
 scene presented itself. Stretched before us was 
 a large expanse of water, as calm as a mill pond, 
 reflecting as in a looking-glass the deep blue sky 
 and the surrounding mountain peaks. Opposite 
 to us, the Black Thunder mountain (Goenoeng 
 
 213 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 Goentor) stood out grim and stern, and behind it 
 were the outlines of other peaks half veiled in 
 fleecy clouds. Fishing canoes were dotted here 
 and there on the lake, and some distance from the 
 shore men and children were wading in the water, 
 catching fish in big baskets similar in shape* to 
 the tiny ones we had bought from the children. 
 Into these the fish are enticed by bait, and once 
 in, they cannot get out. Flat tray-like baskets 
 poised on the heads of the fishers are used to re- 
 ceive the fish thus caught; the basket trap being 
 emptied is then ready to be filled again. How 
 they managed to wade and fish and keep these 
 baskets balanced on their heads without any 
 apparent fastening, was a mystery, which 
 heightened the magic and unreality of the scene. 
 We were invited to enter the quaintest of 
 covered rafts, consisting of a bamboo platform 
 with a canopy overhead, supported by four 
 bamboo poles at the corners. On this platform 
 stood four chairs for the passengers, the whole 
 erection being fastened on three canoes. In the 
 two outer ones natives with short little paddles, 
 shaped like cricket bats, prepared to paddle us 
 across, while the centre canoe contained a man 
 with a long pole, who steered our course as with 
 
 214 
 
FISHING, LAKE BAGENDIT 
 
 RAFT, LAKE BAGENDIT 
 
GARGET; LAKE BAGENDIT 
 
 the wand of a magician, and we slowly glided, 
 followed by the weird music of the anklungs, 
 over the glassy surface of the lake, to the opposite 
 shore, threading our course among the fishers and 
 waders and little canoes, in a dream-like ecstasy 
 of enjoyment that cannot be described, so en- 
 thralling was the witchery of the hour and scene. 
 Here on an eminence has been placed a summer- 
 house or cupola, from which extensive views of 
 lake and mountain can be seen. We stepped 
 from our raft and followed a winding and rather 
 precipitous path through what appeared to be an 
 enchanted garden, so gorgeous were the flowers 
 on every side, so heavy the scent of the perfumed 
 air. Growing here, in the utmost profusion 
 among tree ferns, were poinsettias with their 
 flaming blossoms, pink and white oleanders, and 
 the sweet tuberose, " the sweetest flower for 
 scent that blows " ; scarlet hibiscus with its deli- 
 cate tassels, the pale green flower of the ylang 
 ylang, and huge bushes of frangipanni, which the 
 natives call sumboja (Plumieria acutifolia). The 
 last-named is the flower of the dead for Javanese 
 and Malay alike. It is sometimes used as an 
 offering in the temples, but never for the adorn- 
 ment of the living. It is counted a sacred flower, 
 
 215 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 always associated with graves and burial rites and 
 dedicated to those who have passed into the realm 
 of shadows. Fit emblem of the transitoriness of 
 life; as the blossom is so delicate that its pure 
 whiteness becomes stained if only touched by the 
 finger or even by the fall of one petal on another. 
 The flowers last a little longer when they drop off 
 of their own accord; but even then, in a day at 
 most, they become brown and decayed, un- 
 pleasant to look at or handle. Near the bushes 
 of frangipanni was a curious water plant, the 
 flower shaped like an artichoke or half-opened lily 
 bud. Each separate petal was full of water that 
 spouted out of it when grasped by the fingers ; it 
 is often used by thirsty travellers when other 
 water cannot be obtained. 
 
 As we gained the summit of the hill, the tropical 
 flowers gave place to the more familiar ones of 
 the temperate zone, and pale blue convolvulus, 
 dahlias, lilies, fuschias, and a host of other 
 flowers, especially roses, surrounded us at the top. 
 The roses were most wonderful, crimson, white, 
 pink and cream in colour, climbers, standards, 
 and bush roses, and there were besides, great 
 clumps of maidenhair fern making a most effective 
 background for these flowers. How delicious 
 
 216 
 
GARGET; LAKE BAGENDIT 
 
 was the delicate perfume of the roses after the 
 heavy scent of the tropical flowers! They rilled 
 all the air with their sweetness. 
 
 But even they were forgotten for the moment 
 as we gazed in admiration on the exquisite scene 
 before us. 
 
 Standing under the cupola, which was open on 
 all four sides, we looked out upon a glorious 
 panorama of lake and mountains. It was a 
 wonderful prospect. The Black Thunder 
 mountain still dominated the scene, but to the 
 right of it was Tangkoeban Prahoe, shaped like 
 the prow of some giant boat. In the South the 
 smoke of Papandajan could be seen curling up- 
 wards and losing itself in the clouds. Down 
 below, like a sea of glass, the lake of enchant- 
 ment glittered in the sun, more mysterious and 
 fairy-like than ever. As we gazed from where 
 we stood into its limpid depths we became aware 
 of a large mass of water lilies floating on the sur- 
 face of the lake close to the shore and extending 
 along it for some distance. Some were a beauti- 
 ful mauve colour, others more a blue shade, and 
 others again white. They were a large size and 
 had enormous green leaves, and looked perfectly 
 lovely lying on the water. Near us on the hill 
 
 217 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 was growing a high tree with vivid red flowers, 
 something like the coral tree of Australia, only 
 that it had leaves. 
 
 I wish I could convey any idea of the un- 
 equalled beauty of the whole scene. The 
 glorious summer's day and almost cloudless sky 
 made a perfect setting for the fairy-like lake on 
 whose calm surface the fantastic rafts and little 
 canoes glided to and fro, and in whose depths 
 were reflected the massive rugged mountains that 
 walled it in, as though providing a gigantic ram- 
 part to keep that idyllic spot concealed from the 
 world. As we lingered inhaling the rich per- 
 fume of roses and tropical flowers with which the 
 air was laden, and gazing on the multitudinous 
 hues of plants and blossoms, a magical spell 
 seemed cast over us, transporting us to a scene 
 in the Arabian Nights, and we could have re- 
 mained there for hours, " the world forgetting, by 
 the world forgot." But the spell was broken by 
 inexorable Time, who waits for no man, and re- 
 luctantly we descended the flowery path to the 
 bottom of the hill where our raft awaited us. 
 That marvellous scene, however, will always re- 
 main as an abiding memory. 
 
 At the foot of the hill little children brought 
 
 218 
 
GARGET; LAKE BAGENDIT 
 
 us large bunches of the water lily and other 
 flowers. Some posies were apparently composed 
 of a remarkable and variegated flower that we 
 had not seen before. Not until we had bought 
 and examined them closely did we discover that 
 this many-hued flower was in reality a number of 
 detached petals from various flowers so cleverly 
 fastened together that the collection appeared as 
 one unusual flower. 
 
 A wave of the hand and our magical raft came 
 alongside and we stepped on board to be wafted 
 across the lake into a commonplace world again. 
 
 As we once more glided over the smooth sur- 
 face of the water, our guide told us weird stories 
 of other lakes, even larger than this one, hidden 
 away among the grim-looking mountains around, 
 in whose waters lurked the fierce crocodile and 
 alligator. On the shores of these lakes and in 
 the fastnesses of the mountains surrounding 
 them, dwelt, he said, an ancient wild and blood- 
 thirsty race of men called Atje. They were the 
 terror of the dwellers in neighbouring kampongs, 
 as they sometimes descended on these in their 
 marauding expeditions, plundering and slaying 
 in a wholesale manner. This tribe worshipped 
 the crocodiles and alligators in their lakes, and 
 
 219 
 
 15 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 had a curious tradition that if an Atje dreamed 
 that he was eaten by one of these horrible beasts, 
 it was a sign that his life was forfeit and he must 
 instantly make the dream a reality, by giving him- 
 self as a meal to the first crocodile he could find. 
 These wild men are most cunning, and sometimes 
 put on the veneer of civilisation for their own pur- 
 poses, as when they want to get over to Borneo 
 or Sumatra or one of the other islands. Once 
 two of them came down and took their passages 
 in one of the small coasting ships that visit the 
 islands. They were not recognised as members 
 of this fierce tribe, so no precautions were taken. 
 When the boat was found at its destination the 
 crew and all the passengers were dead, killed by 
 the wild men, who had also stolen everything of 
 value from the ship and had disappeared with 
 their booty. Now when any of these lawless folk 
 seek to cross to another place in the company of 
 civilised people, they are secured in a large iron 
 cage on deck and closely guarded till they are 
 put on shore, so that there shall be no repetition 
 of this murderous deed. Not far from the dis- 
 trict where these savages dwell, is another place 
 in the mountains called Banjarmassin, where 
 glittering diamonds can be found, if indeed one 
 
 220 
 
GARGET; LAKE BAGENDIT 
 
 cares to risk one's life in getting them, as these 
 fierce denizens of the hills are not friendly to out- 
 siders. They have never been conquered and 
 are the despair of the Dutch Government. 
 
 With such tales beguiling the time, we were all 
 too soon at the other side of the lake listening 
 once more to the mysterious strains of music from 
 the anklungs. Some of these primitive instruments 
 we were anxious to obtain, but the owners would 
 only sell us a complete set, and these it was im- 
 possible for us to carry. We drove home another 
 way in order to visit the hot springs at Tjipanas, 
 where there are very fine mineral baths, some 
 large enough to swim about in, like the hot lakes 
 in New Zealand. The road wound between fish- 
 ponds which are placed terrace-wise and are fed 
 from the hot springs. These latter are five in 
 number, each of a different temperature (104- 
 108 F), and for the sum of fourpence one can 
 enjoy a hot bath in a stone basin enclosed within 
 a bamboo shed. The views here were also most 
 charming, though they seemed commonplace 
 after the mysterious and eerie beauty of Lake 
 Bagendit and its surroundings. From the 
 Springs a road leads up to the Thunder moun- 
 tain, but it is a difficult ascent, and we did not 
 
 221 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 attempt it. In the first half of the nineteenth 
 century Mount Goentoer was extremely active 
 and there were many eruptions, but for the last 
 fifty years or more it has been quiescent. 
 
 Leaving the mountains, we went on through 
 a charming little village and a lovely bit of 
 forest, in which we looked in vain for the 
 tigers, panthers, rhinoceros, and wild boars 
 that are said to abound in the neighbour- 
 hood of Garoet. Perhaps we were not altogether 
 sorry we missed seeing them, as we might have 
 been the game and they the hunters. After 
 traversing the forest we gained the high road we 
 had followed in the morning, through the familiar 
 rice fields, and we were once more within the pre- 
 cincts of the delightful Van Horck Hotel. 
 
 There are a great many excursions to be made 
 from Garoet, the most popular being a trip to the 
 crater of the Papandajan volcano; but as we had 
 seen the Bromo, and intended visiting the crater 
 of the Tangkoeban Prahoe from Bandoeng, we 
 could not spare the time for a third volcano. To 
 visit Papandajan one must start as early as 4 
 a.m., as one did for the Bromo, or go the evening 
 before to Tjiseroepan, which is 3,900 feet above 
 the sea level, and eleven miles south of Garoet. 
 
 222 
 
GARGET; LAKE BAGENDIT 
 
 From thence about two hours' ride brings one to 
 the crater (8,460 feet above the sea) by a path 
 over white boulders of lava. Here the visitor 
 dismounts and proceeds on foot to a point where 
 the bubbling, seething bottom of the crater can 
 be seen, as well as the walls, 600 to 900 feet high, 
 that encircle it on three sides. The only known 
 great eruption of this volcano took place on 
 August 1 2th, 1772, when forty villages were 
 destroyed and 3,000 people lost their lives. Sur- 
 rounding the crater are mud springs, sulphur 
 pillars and solfataras, and the noise made by the 
 fumaroles and bubbling mud pools is deafening. 
 Another excursion, which I was most anxious 
 to make had time permitted, is that to the Telega 
 Bodas or White Lake, and it was a great dis- 
 appointment to have to give it up. The Telega 
 Bodas is a sulphur lake of a greenish white colour, 
 in which the water is always in a state of bubble 
 and ferment. It is 5,610 feet above the sea and 
 enclosed within steep walls. To reach it one 
 must drive to Padaharan, seven miles distant, 
 and then proceed on horseback or in a sedan 
 chair through coffee plantations, and a kind of 
 wilderness or bush, till the shore of the lake is 
 reached. The white colour that gives the lake 
 
 223 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 its name, is from the reflection of the sulphur and 
 alum precipitated at the bottom. It was not so 
 much the White Lake I wished to see as a strange, 
 mysterious valley close to it, and always included 
 in the expedition, known as the Slaughter Place 
 (Padjagalan) or Valley of the Dead, so called 
 because the bottom of the valley exhales a 
 poisonous and asphyxiating vapour, strong 
 enough to kill any animal attempting to cross from 
 one side to the other. In close proximity to this 
 valley, is another desolate region called Kawah 
 Manock, or the Birds' Crater, where are three 
 pools, the largest of them about thirty feet in 
 diameter ; it generates and gives off a very dense 
 vapour, similar in effect to the poisonous gas at 
 Padjagalan; so that birds, flying overhead low 
 enough to inhale the deadly fumes, are overcome, 
 and falling, perish in the pool. No doubt it was 
 this, and similar places to be found in the Dieng 
 plateau, that gave rise to the myth of the Upas or 
 poison tree of Java. This fabulous tree never 
 existed except in the fertile imagination of a 
 surgeon named Foerset, who published in 1785 
 such a circumstantial account of it and its death- 
 dealing properties, that everyone was deceived 
 into accepting it as a fact. According to Foerset, 
 
 224 
 
GARGET; LAKE BAGENDIT 
 
 this most mysterious tree grew in solitary state in 
 a desolate valley (something similar to the Padja- 
 galan) in Java, and gave forth such a pestilent 
 exhalation from the poisonous gum exuding from 
 its bark that no living thing could approach with- 
 in a certain radius and survive. Animals that, 
 hunting for prey or being hunted, in the excite- 
 ment of the chase approached too near the fatal 
 tree, were struck down and perished ; birds flying 
 low enough to breathe the fumes of death, shared 
 the same fate, and the bleaching bones of beast 
 and bird lay strewn over this valley of the dead. 
 The Javanese knowing the deadly nature of the 
 poison, coveted it to use on arrow-head and spear- 
 point against their enemies, and adopted various 
 expedients to obtain it. One was to offer life 
 to a condemned criminal if he should succeed in 
 penetrating into the loathsome vale and bringing 
 back a portion of the poisonous gum. By this 
 remote chance of life, some were induced to 
 make the attempt, but few returned successful 
 from the quest ; most of them met the death they 
 had tried to escape, were overcome and stupified, 
 and their bones left to mingle with those of the 
 animals that already lay whitening in the sun. 
 So runs Foerset's tale ! 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 This fascinating theme inspired the brush of at 
 least one British painter, and years ago there was 
 exhibited at South Kensington Museum a large 
 painting by Frank Danby, A.R.A., entitled " The 
 Upas or Poison Tree of Java." In it the painter 
 depicts a desolate, rocky valley, sombre and 
 drear, with no vegetation other than the one soli- 
 tary poison tree, its gnarled roots spreading over 
 the stony ground, on which lie the bleaching 
 bones of animals and birds who have fallen vic- 
 tims to its malign power. In the foreground of 
 the picture is a man, the criminal, bound on his 
 dangerous errand, his hands held before his face 
 as though to shut out the ghastly scene before 
 him, and he appears to be summoning up resolu- 
 tion to approach the tree. A vulture that has 
 hovered too low in winging its flight across the 
 ravine, lies dead with outstretched wings at his 
 feet, a portent of his own fate. The picture was 
 a wonderful effort of the imagination and had a 
 great fascination for me. Many a time have I 
 stood and gazed at it, little thinking then that I 
 should one day visit the land of the Upas Tree. 
 This picture is no longer on view, it had to be 
 withdrawn from exhibition as, unfortunately, the 
 surface was cracking all over and the painting in 
 
 226 
 
GARGET; LAKE BAGENDIT 
 
 danger of obliteration. Through the courtesy of 
 A. P. Oppe, Esq., Deputy Director of the Vic- 
 toria and Albert Museum, it was specially brought 
 out for me to see, and I was much shocked at its 
 condition. It was with difficulty the details could 
 be discerned. 
 
 There is a tree called the Upas that grows in 
 Java which contains a sap of a milky appearance, 
 which when taken internally or injected into the 
 blood, acts as an immediate and deadly poison; 
 it was formerly used by the Javanese to poison 
 their spears and arrow-heads in time of war. But 
 this tree grows in the forests with other trees and 
 exercises no deleterious effect on them or on the 
 surrounding vegetation. The Guwa Upas or 
 valley of poison, in which the tree was supposed 
 to grow, may well be the Valley of the Dead, with 
 its layer of carbonic acid gas, so destructive to 
 both animal and vegetable life, or it may be that 
 which is situated near the White Lake, whose 
 deadly fumes have a like disastrous effect. Or 
 it may be the valley or plain, 20 miles long and 
 8 or 10 wide, in the Dieng Mountains, the crater 
 of a long extinct volcano which is encircled by a 
 chain of green hills. These so keep out air and 
 wind that the noxious gas oozing up from the 
 
 227 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 sandy bottom of the crater cannot be blown away, 
 but is retained in such quantities that animals 
 coming down from the hills and seeking to cross 
 the plain are overpowered by the fumes, and their 
 skeletons lie strewn around, with those of the 
 birds who, weary in their flight, have dropped 
 down into the valley to rise again no more. It 
 was a happy inspiration on the part of Foerset to 
 transplant the Upas tree into such a valley, and 
 attribute to it the deadly effects of the poisonous 
 gas. 
 
 The afternoon of our visit to Lake Bagendit we 
 had a very delightful walk about Garoet and 
 visited the passer, where we bought some quaint 
 baskets which are made to come in two, so that 
 you can use one part without the other. We saw 
 also the Kapok tree (Eriodendron) growing, its 
 thick seed capsules contain a fibre which re- 
 sembles cotton, but is too short and brittle for 
 spinning; it makes, however, most excellent stuf- 
 fing for pillows instead of feathers, and is used in 
 upholstery. The wealth of flowers at Garoet 
 was amazing, huge magnolias with enormous 
 blossoms, oleander trees with pink and white 
 flowers in great abundance, and hibiscus and 
 trees with flaming blossoms abounded ; the many- 
 
 228 
 
GARGET; LAKE BAGENDIT 
 
 hued crotans were most numerous and beautiful. 
 The hats the natives wore at Garoet seemed 
 bigger than elsewhere. We met natives carrying 
 a number of these in various shades of red and 
 blue, dangling from a long bamboo pole which 
 was supported at either end on the shoulder of a 
 man. We wanted to buy two of the biggest, in 
 size resembling a cart-wheel, but the counsels of 
 prudence prevailed, as we did not see how it was 
 possible to carry them. Finally we contented 
 ourselves with two of a medium size; but even 
 with these the problem of carriage was a serious 
 consideration, as we had nothing large enough to 
 hold them. In the end we carried them as they 
 were, all through Java, to the accompaniment of 
 unkind and withering remarks from friends who 
 should have known better, and the amused looks 
 and smiles of the natives at railway stations and 
 hotels. This embarrassing position continued 
 until we reached Singapore, where a large basket 
 was bought for them, and they were despatched 
 to England. 
 
 On our return to the hotel to get ready for 
 dinner we were astonished to find that the Dutch 
 ladies even in that cooler climate wore the Sarong 
 and Kabaia the whole day, and went about with- 
 
 229 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 out stockings in heelless slippers. There is not 
 the same excuse for this in Garoet as there is in 
 steaming Sourabaya, and if the ladies only knew 
 what frights they looked with their large stout 
 persons encased in a costume only suitable for 
 the small, slim Javanese women, they would not 
 think of wearing it. I presume they prefer com- 
 fort to elegance; it is only in this way I can 
 account for their disregard of appearances. Early 
 next morning a whole crowd of natives came to 
 our portion of the verandah eager to display vari- 
 ous articles of merchandise they had brought to 
 sell, such as sarongs, slendangs, brass work, etc. 
 Among other things were some of the curious 
 bamboo musical instruments, and my sister-in-law 
 and I each purchased one of the smallest of these, 
 just to show what they were like. I got a square of 
 the cloth used by the men for their turbans, and 
 asked the vendor to make it up into a turban for 
 me ; this he did most willingly, though he seemed 
 greatly amused at my request. I also secured 
 some of the dried aromatic grass called Bintara, 
 which is dried and used for scenting linen and 
 garments. Then we had to make haste and pack 
 up to catch our train to Bandoeng; we were ex- 
 tremely sorry our stay at Garoet was so short. It 
 
 230 
 
GARGET; LAKE BAGENDIT 
 
 is a perfectly delightful place and there are many 
 interesting excursions to be made from it, but 
 time did not permit. The town itself is also 
 charming, with its many pretty villas and gardens 
 and lovely flowers. 
 
 Bidding a reluctant farewell to our landlord 
 and his comfortable hotel, we once more entered 
 the pew-like carriage at the station and steamed 
 off to Tjebatoe en route for Bandoeng. 
 
 Between Garoet and Tjibatoe we had a fellow 
 traveller who turned out to be a Dutch tea planter. 
 He spoke excellent English and told us he had 
 large tea plantations in the neighbourhood of 
 Garoet, and that he would have been delighted 
 to take us over them had he known we were at 
 the Van Horck hotel. We were sorry to have 
 missed such an interesting experience, but, even 
 had we received the invitation, our time was too 
 limited to allow us to take advantage of it. 
 
 Garoet and the surrounding district is the centre 
 of the Java tea cultivation, and the tea grown 
 there is much sought after by American and Eng- 
 lish tea blenders, to mix with Indian and Ceylon 
 tea. The tea plant thrives best at a height of 
 1,500 to i, 800 feet, though it can be grown at 
 most altitudes in Java, but it requires a well- 
 
 231 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 drained clay soil. In former years only China 
 tea was grown in Java, but now it is mostly 
 Assam that is planted, and this latter has the 
 advantage of bearing more leaves. 
 
 The process of tea cultivation is briefly as fol- 
 lows : The plant is grown from seed, which is 
 sown in a nursery, and then the tiny seedlings 
 transplanted. Several times a year the planta- 
 tion must be dug over while the young plants 
 are growing, as the soil must not lie too heavily 
 on their tender roots ; they must also be kept free 
 from weeds. About the third year trenches are 
 dug between the shrubs, so as to give the roots 
 plenty of air, and in the same year the first 
 crop may be gathered. This will only be a 
 small one, but each succeeding year will show an 
 increase, and the trees will go on producing tea 
 for a great many years if well cultivated and 
 properly cared for ; they must be severely pruned 
 each year to prevent them from flowering. 
 
 The various kinds of tea are not, as one would 
 suppose, obtained from different plants ; the one 
 tree produces all kinds, the quality depending on 
 the position of the leaf on the tree. For instance, 
 the best tea, both green and black, is given by the 
 two leaves at the extreme tip of each branch or 
 
 232 
 
GARGET; LAKE BAGENDIT 
 
 twig, and is known as Orange Pekoe ; the colour 
 depends on the subsequent treatment. The 
 leaves tha.t come next to the two at the top give 
 us Souchong tea, and those lower still what is 
 called Congou. To make the leaves into green 
 tea they are taken straight from the tree and dried 
 on hot iron plates; this prevents their turning 
 black. For black tea, the leaves are exposed to 
 the air until they shrivel up and are nearly dry, 
 then they are put into a machine and bruised by 
 rollers over and over again, and when sufficiently 
 powdered are spread out to dry in flat baskets. 
 The action of the air on the leaves turns them 
 black, and when this has been achieved they are 
 put through a final drying process, by hot air in 
 a drying machine, when they are ready for pack- 
 ing and exportation. I believe something like 
 12,000 tons are now exported annually, as, since 
 the Dutch Government renounced its monopoly 
 in the tea industry in 1865, the output has largely 
 increased. 
 
 233 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 BANDOENG AND THE TANGKOEBAN PRAHOE 
 
 THE railway journey from Tjibatoe to Bandoeng 
 is full of interest, and our train passed through 
 some magnificent scenery. From the time we left 
 Djokjakarta we had been gradually ascending into 
 the mountainous provinces of the Preanger (Pre- 
 anger Regentschappen) , which extend along the 
 south-west of Java. At Tjibatoe, where we 
 changed for Garoet, we had reached almost the 
 highest point, 3,000 feet; the railway line there has 
 been called the " Tropical St. Gothard," but the 
 culminating point of the whole route is un- 
 doubtedly at Leles, just beyond Tjibatoe, where 
 the scenery is most superb and inspiring. At 
 Leles the Great Black Thunder mountain directly 
 faces you, and there is a splendid view of the 
 dome-shaped Haroman, a lofty mountain, which, 
 though so high, is yet cultivated in terraces right 
 up to the summit, while on the left of it stands out 
 the Dead Kling mountain. We caught glimpses 
 of many-hued wild flowers and variegated shrubs 
 
TANGKOEBAN PRAHOE 
 
 as we went along, for our train, though called an 
 express, did not come up to our idea of that term. 
 We also saw (as we had done at Garoet) many 
 most beautiful birds. 
 
 In the Preanger Regencies alone, according to 
 Alfred Russel^ Wallace, there are to be found 
 forty species of birds peculiar to Java. One of 
 them, the Minaret fly-catcher (Pericrocatus 
 miniatus) looks like a flame of fire as it darts 
 through the bushes. There is also a rare and 
 curious black and crimson oriole (Analcipus San- 
 guinoleutus) , and a yellow and green trogon 
 (Harpactes Reinwardti), besides many kinds of 
 kingfishers, hornbills, lorikeets (Loriculus pusil- 
 lus), and other ''strange bright birds' on 
 " starry wings "; as for the enormous butterflies, 
 their colours are too gorgeous for description. 
 
 We crossed the river Tjmanoek by a long bridge 
 (go feet) , and could see the water beneath foam- 
 ing over its rocky bed. During one portion of the 
 journey our train wound along a narrow stone 
 shelf or ledge hewn out of the mountain, whose 
 cliffs towered above us on one side, while on the 
 other was a precipitous descent into the plain of 
 Leles, 2,000 feet below. From our dizzy height 
 in the cleft mountain side we had a glorious 
 
 235 
 
 16 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 panoramic view of the fertile plain with its network 
 of rice fields, rising in terraces dressed in varying 
 shades of living green, while the rivulets and pools 
 of water gleamed in the sun's rays. It made a 
 wonderfully beautiful picture, one hard to be sur- 
 passed. At the top of the Kalaidon Pass we 
 began to descend into another plain, and steamed 
 rapidly down for about 1,000 feet till we reached 
 Bandoeng Station. Here we alighted and drove 
 to the Hotel Homann, which had been recom- 
 mended to us as the best. We found it was a huge 
 place as big as the hotel in Sourabaya, yet so 
 crowded with guests that we could not obtain 
 rooms close together, a wide courtyard separating 
 mine from that of my brother and his wife. The 
 guide too had to be accommodated at some dis- 
 tance, and in the upper storey. For this hotel 
 had two stories, and was the first so built in which 
 we had been. Access to the upper rooms was 
 by an outside wooden staircase, which led to a 
 gallery on which the rooms opened, very much 
 after the Swiss chalet style. The hotel also con- 
 tained an ordinary bathroom with a reclining bath, 
 the only one of the kind we met with in Java. 
 
 We were late for the riz tavel, but were served 
 with an excellent lunch, of which we pkrtook in 
 
 236 
 
TANGKOEBAN PRAHOE 
 
 the huge dining room, which at that hour we had 
 to ourselves. The food at Hotel Homann was 
 especially good, and we had not tasted such 
 delicious bread and butter since leaving the 
 Luchtkuurood Hotel at Tengger. After lunch 
 we went for a drive through the town, which is 
 quite an important as well as a very pretty one, 
 and which enjoys a cool, moist climate. 
 
 Bandoeng is the capital of the Preanger Resi- 
 dencies, and the dwelling-place of a Dutch resi- 
 dent and native regent. In front of the latter's 
 palace, where the prince holds his mimic court, is 
 a large aloon-aloon or square, and on either side 
 of the broad shady avenues, which are called 
 streets, the wealthy Dutch folk have built them- 
 selves charming villas with wide marble or tiled 
 verandahs covered with creepers, standing among 
 palm trees in pretty gardens full of beautiful 
 flowers and shrubs; the variegated leaves of the 
 shrubs as brilliant as flowers. But for the shrubs 
 and trees the gardens would be rather stiff, as the 
 flowers are planted in earthen pots raised on 
 pedestals from the ground, and arranged symetri- 
 cally in rows in true Dutch style. I was never 
 able to discover whether this method of floral cul- 
 tivation, which obtains in Java in the gardens of 
 
 237 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 the Dutch, was chosen on account of the insects 
 who might attack the plants, or because of the 
 overweening love of tidiness and order for which 
 the people of Holland are famous. Flowers in 
 pots are certainly more easily tended and kept free 
 from weeds than when planted in beds, and it saves 
 trouble. The gardens in Bandoeng fairly bristled 
 with these receptacles, of many shapes and 
 colours, but all filled with most brilliant flowers. 
 There is a pretty park in Bandoeng, with shady 
 walks under glorious trees, gay with crotons and 
 flowers. The training school for native teachers 
 was pointed out to us, and also a large and famous 
 mosque. The latter we were only allowed to view 
 from the outside, as we were not considered worthy 
 to enter its sacred precints. 
 
 Bandoeng is a great racing centre, and boasts of 
 a fine course outside the town; much gaiety and 
 merrymaking take place there during the annual 
 races in July. The market is most interesting, 
 and was full of bustle and animation when we 
 visited it that afternoon. It was the only place 
 where I saw the little silver brooches arranged in 
 sets of three, connected by silver chains, with 
 which the native women fasten their kabajas or 
 jackets. Each brooch is a representation in very 
 
 238 
 
TANGKOEBAN PRAHOE 
 
 thin silver of the head of a goddess whose name, 
 we were told, is Krisno Ardjoeno, a most fantastic 
 looking personage with a long pointed nose (see 
 cover) . We invested in several sets as they are 
 quite pretty; we also bought a yellow kabaja and 
 a green belt or sash. The combination sounds 
 rather dreadful, but they looked very well 
 together, like the feathers on the yellow and green 
 trogon bird. We found our guide most useful in 
 bargaining for us. 
 
 Close to the town are the Tjiampeloes Baths, 
 and within half an hour's drive is the pretty water- 
 fall called Tjoeroek-Dago; but the great excursion 
 from Bandoeng is to the crater of the Tangkoeban 
 Prahoe. It is so called because in shape the 
 mountain resembles the overturned prow of a 
 gigantic boat. Legendary lore looks upon it as 
 the petrified remains of the colossal boat in which 
 the ancient Javanese escaped when the world was 
 flooded | it rested on this mountain, and as the 
 waters f^ll the occupants descended into the plain, 
 and in process of time peopled the islands of the 
 East. We had planned to visit this famous vol- 
 cano next day, so had no time for the lesser excur- 
 sions, nor opportunity, as the rain began to come 
 down heavily, and we were glad to escape to the 
 
 239 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 shelter of our hotel and rest awhile before dinner. 
 The latter was not served until 9 o'clock, and 
 when at that hour we entered the dining room we 
 found it crowded with a gaily-dressed assemblage. 
 The gentlemen in evening dress, and the ladies 
 in their low-necked silks and satins presented a 
 wonderful contrast to their appearance in the day- 
 time. Especially was this the case with the ladies 
 who go about till late in the afternoon in the scanty 
 and tight sarong skirt and loose white jacket, their 
 bare feet thrust into heel-less shoes. If they only 
 could see themselves as others see them ! 
 
 Immediately after dinner, in view of our early 
 start next morning, we retired to our rooms, for 
 we were to be called soon after 5 a.m. I seemed 
 only to have been asleep about five minutes, when 
 a rattle of cup and saucer announced that it was 
 morning and tea was awaiting me outside on the 
 verandah. It helped to waken me up, and I was 
 soon dressed. I looked across the court several 
 times to the door of my brother and sister-in-law's 
 room, and as it was open I presumed they had been 
 called, but time went on, no one seemed moving, 
 no tea equipage was visible on their verandah, and 
 I became alarmed, and went across to find out 
 what they were doing. Imagine my consternation 
 
 240 
 
TANGKOEBAN PRAHOE 
 
 at finding them wrapped in peaceful slumber, 
 totally oblivious of the claims of Tangkoeban 
 Prahoe or any other volcano. When I succeeded 
 in awakening them and explained the situation, 
 they were very much annoyed that they had not 
 been called or served with tea. However, a 
 vigorous hand clapping, the usual bell in the East, 
 soon procured a native, who speedily brought the 
 tea, and as my brother and sister-in-law completed 
 their toilets with lightning rapidity, the carriages 
 to take us to Lembang had only to wait a few 
 minutes and we were soon " all aboard/' 
 
 The carriages looked as if they had been 
 brought in the ark-boat at the time of the Flood, 
 so antiquated was their structure. They held 
 three people, the driver in front and two behind. 
 To reach their seat those whose place was behind 
 had to clamber over the seat in front, the best way 
 they could, a most uncomfortable, not to say risky, 
 proceeding. Three horses (one for each of the 
 occupants) drew this strange vehicle, and as soon 
 as we were seated they set off at a gallop up the 
 easy ascent to Lembang, about fifteen miles away. 
 The road was most picturesque, and interesting 
 sights met our view continually as we drove along 
 for about two hours. We passed through pretty 
 
 241 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 villages where the men were about to begin their 
 clay's work, or were squatting on their heels out- 
 side their basket houses while they ate rice from 
 little round bowls, or drank coffee, which they 
 take without milk, but sometimes sweeten with 
 sugar. Their cooking utensils are of the 
 simplest, just a pan of charcoal and a couple of 
 pots and they are independent of fire or stove. 
 We passed a group of native women, about a 
 dozen in number, who had their hair done up high 
 on their heads, surmounted by curiously-shaped 
 horn combs. Our guide told us these were 
 women from Sumatra, and this was their distinc- 
 tive headgear; as the Javanese women wear no 
 combs, and have their hair drawn tightly from the 
 face into a knot behind. These Sumatra women 
 were on their way to the passer (market) , and we 
 met various people bound for the same place. 
 One was a baker with two little tin trunks, with 
 round tops, swinging at the ends of the bamboo 
 pole across his shoulder. Another was a fruit 
 seller, and carried delicious looking fruit on flat 
 baskets in the same style. The most curious 
 figure was a vendor of syrups or fruit juice, as he 
 had his bottles of syrup poised on either side of 
 an arch-like erection, on which the glasses for 
 
 242 
 
TANGKOEBAN PRAHOE 
 
 drinking the liquid were arranged in a semi-circle. 
 It was all most fascinating, and we greatly enjoyed 
 our drive in the fresh morning air. 
 
 There is a capital hotel at Lembang standing in 
 a spacious garden filled with roses, lilies, mari- 
 golds, and many other flowers, especially roses of 
 all kinds, and growing in beds, not in pots. The 
 host and hostess were a Dutchman and his wife, 
 two of the very fattest people I have ever seen. 
 The woman looked the stouter of the two, but that 
 was probably on account of her dress. She had 
 the short, narrow sarong, a loose white jacket and 
 bare feet in thick shoes without heels, and looked 
 enormous. They were both very kind and atten- 
 tive, and spoke English well. We had nice hot 
 tea and biscuits before continuing our journey, in 
 sedan chairs, carried by coolies, as the road is too 
 rough for a carriage. Rough indeed it was, the 
 steepest, most precipitous road it has ever been 
 my lot to travel. It was a mere track like the 
 bed of a mountain torrent, strewn with great stones 
 and boulders, or covered with swampy mud in 
 which our bearers sank up to their ankles. How 
 the men kept their footing I cannot imagine, 
 especially as in some places the road was so steep 
 it was like climbing a wall or scaling a cliff. But 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 the natives are like monkeys in the way they climb, 
 and their bare feet seem to find a foothold in im- 
 possible places. The easiest part of the way was 
 through large cinchona plantations, in one of 
 which may be seen a white obelisk, which marks 
 the last resting place of the great naturalist Jung- 
 huhn, who for many years occupied a villa close 
 by and interested himself in the culture of the cin- 
 chona tree. This precious tree was brought from 
 Callao into Java in 1854, by a botanist named 
 Justus Karl Hasskarl, after a long and eventful 
 voyage; at least so Junghuhn relates. The trees 
 that had survived the voyage and were still 
 vigorous, were immediately planted at Tjibodas, 
 5,000 feet above sea level, where they grew and 
 flourished, and seedlings taken from them were 
 planted in various parts of Java, and in the 
 Botanical Gardens at Buitenzorg. Cinchona 
 plantations increased rapidly, and the cultivation 
 of the tree for its health-giving bark was taken up 
 with much vigour. Certain experiments that 
 were made proved that the South American 
 species, Calysaya, imported in 1865, was richer 
 in quinine than any other variety, and this is the 
 kind now most generally grown. The cinchona 
 plant is grown in a nursery from seed, and when 
 
 244 
 
TANGKOEBAN PRAHOE 
 
 the young sapling is about three feet high it is 
 transplanted into the open. After four years' 
 growth a crop can be obtained, but the sixth to 
 eighth year yields a better harvest. There are 
 several methods of obtaining the bark, but it must 
 be peeled off with a horn or bamboo knife, not a 
 steel one, which would injure and discolour it. 
 The bark is dried in the sun, or by artificial heat, 
 and then carefully sorted; the better qualities to 
 be used for the preparation of quinine, and the 
 poorer ones to be made into various pharmaceuti- 
 cal preparations. It is then put up in bales for 
 exportation. 
 
 Cinchona trees have a great many dangers to 
 contend with, as they are subject to various 
 diseases. The roots are often rotted away by a 
 fungus-like growth, or the branches are attacked 
 by a blight that destroys them, but the greatest 
 enemy is an insect that feeds on the leaves and 
 sucks away the sap. In all these cases the tree 
 must be burned as soon as possible, for there is 
 no remedy. 
 
 The earliest well authenticated account of the 
 medicinal value of the bark of the cinchona tree 
 is the cure of the Countess of Chinchona, wife of 
 the Governor of Peru in 1638. She had an attack 
 
 2 45 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 of malarial or intermittent fever, and the adminis- 
 tration of this medicine cured her. The name 
 cinchona owes its origin to her connection with its 
 introduction, and should be spelt " chinchona." 
 It was also known as Jesuits' bark, as the Jesuits 
 learned the secret from the South American 
 Indians and spread the knowledge throughout 
 Europe. 
 
 Our road led us among thousands of these trees, 
 which are quite small, with leaves which have red- 
 dish tips. From these plantations we turned into 
 a wild forest, like the virgin forest of old New 
 Zealand; so thick is the undergrowth and so beau- 
 tiful the ferns. Dwarf palms and tree ferns 
 abounded; luxuriant creepers made a tangled net- 
 work over the branches of the trees, and from these 
 branches they hung in long trails, or coiled them- 
 selves round the trunks and stems; underneath 
 were shrubs and plants whose rich and varied 
 colouring shone vividly against the dark green of 
 the tree-ferns. Exquisite and rare ferns nestled 
 at the roots of the mighty and ancient forest 
 giants, that reared their heads proudly on high, 
 and grew so close together that a semi-twilight 
 replaced the burning sunshine, and gave a 
 grateful coolness and shade. Our bearers must 
 
 246 
 
TANGKOEBAN PRAHOE 
 
 have appreciated it, as it was terribly hot 
 work carrying heavy sedan chairs containing full- 
 grown and by no means light persons up that pre- 
 cipitous path. That forest was a dream of beauty, 
 and we were sorry to come out into the open, on 
 the top of an eminence, from which we descended 
 a short way to find ourselves on a small plateau, 
 looking down into a lake of blue-white water. We 
 quickly left our chairs to look around us. On the 
 other side of the small plateau was a similar lake 
 only of a yellow colour. These lakes are the 
 craters of the volcano, and one of them, the Kawa 
 Ratoe, is still active. We could see the clouds 
 of steam issuing frorri fissures in the sides, above 
 the water, and there was a strong smell of sulphur. 
 The lake or pool is constantly varying in size; 
 sometimes the water disappears altogether. The 
 other crater is called Kawa Oepas, which means 
 poisonous crater; no doubt because of the noxious 
 gases that collect in it; there is always water form- 
 ing a small lake at its bottom, and it is 150 feet 
 higher than the Kawa Ratoe. We scrambled 
 down half way to the latter and picked some beau- 
 tiful wild flowers, and would have made further 
 exploration to see the sulphur and mud pools, but 
 the sky became overcast, and a storm threatened, 
 
 247 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 so we thought it wiser to return. It was annoying 
 not to have a clear sky, as one should have had a 
 splendid view from the plateau, right across to the 
 Sunda Sea. But a heavy curtain of mist blotted 
 out the distant scenes, and we had to be content 
 with the clouds of vapour and bubbling sulphur 
 pools beneath our feet. The last great eruption 
 of the Tangkoeban Prahoe took place in May, 
 1846. It was a fine sight, but not nearly so won- 
 derful as the Bromo, and to my mind the journey 
 to it is infinitely more difficult and tiring. 
 
 There is no nice rest house on the Tangkoeban 
 Prahoe, and we had to eat our luncheon in haste, 
 seated on the ground close to the edge of the 
 crater, for the mist was increasing rapidly, and it 
 might have been dangerous to delay our return. 
 So we hastily resumed our sedan chairs and began 
 the breakneck descent. If it was rough coming 
 up, it was much worse and more alarming going 
 down, and I wonder we survived to tell the tale. 
 Our bearers' agility was marvellous, and the way 
 they skipped from stone to stone and kept their 
 balance in slippery places was a succession of 
 acrobatic feats. I held my breath in alarm, many 
 times expecting to be precipitated forward and 
 dashed to the ground; but my chair recovered its 
 
 248 
 
TANGKOEBAN PRAHOE 
 
 balance in a magical manner, and I felt reassured 
 for the moment, only to have fresh scares at in- 
 tervals. It grew darker and darker, and down 
 eame the rain in torrents while the thunder 
 growled in the distance. We longed to be safely 
 out of the glorious forest that had been such a 
 delight to us coming up, and felt very thankful 
 when the cinchona plantations were reached, and 
 we were more or less in the open and away from 
 the lightning-conducting trees. But if the road 
 were less steep, it was much more slippery, and we 
 seemed to have exchanged one danger for another. 
 The natives had great difficulty in keeping their 
 footing, and twice one of my bearers lost his and 
 fell; but the other three held firm and one of the 
 extra coolies helped him up. 
 
 We breathed a sigh of relief when the Lembang 
 Hotel came in sight, and the antediluvian car- 
 riages seemed luxurious indeed, after our hair- 
 breadth escapes in the sedan chairs. Our horses 
 galloped wildly back to Bandoeng, evidently 
 excited by the thunderstorm and rain which con- 
 tinued until we reached the Hotel Homann, and, 
 indeed, for the rest of the day. So we had no 
 further opportunity of exploring Bandoeng, as we 
 left early next morning for Buitenzorg. 
 
 249 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 BUITENZORG 
 
 THE first part of the railway journey from Ban- 
 doeng to Buitenzorg is one continuous ascent until 
 the station is reached at Tjiandor, i ,600 feet above 
 sea level, and the line passes through some magni- 
 ficent scenery, and crosses two rivers. A spidery- 
 looking viaduct spans the first, the Tjitaroen, and 
 from its dizzy height one can look down on the 
 foaming torrent below, which rushes into a natural 
 tunnel and reappears in a narrow gorge lower 
 down. Another long bridge takes the train over 
 the Tjisokan river, and from it a pretty cascade 
 can be seen, the water falling from a considerable 
 height down the craggy side of the cliff. Before 
 reaching Tjiandor, the plain is dotted all over with 
 little hills or mounds, both round and oblong. 
 These hillocks have been thrown up by the erup- 
 tion of lava from the neighbouring Mount Gedeh, 
 which is one of the most interesting and remark- 
 able volcanoes in Java. It has two craters, a 
 smaller within a larger, and in the centre of the 
 
 250 
 
BUITENZORG 
 
 small one is an opening which is still active. 
 After leaving Tjiandor, our way led us through 
 countless plantations of cinchona, tea, coffee, etc., 
 and these continued right up to Buitenzorg. 
 
 I have spoken of the tea and cinchona cultiva- 
 tion; that of coffee is very similar to the latter, as 
 far as the trees are concerned, and the same kind 
 of soil and treatment suit both. 
 
 Until the year 1690, when Java first began to 
 grow coffee, Arabia was the only source for the 
 world-supply of that commodity. In that year 
 Van Hoorne, the then Governor of the Dutch East 
 Indies, received some coffee seeds from the mer- 
 chants who carried on a trade between the Arabian 
 Gulf and Java. These seeds were sown in a 
 garden in Batavia, and succeeded so well that 
 coffee trees were planted throughout the island, 
 and thrived exceedingly. Another version gives 
 a later date for the introduction of coffee into Java, 
 1699, anQl states it was Henricus Zwardecroon who 
 introduced it, and that it was one of the first crops 
 to be made compulsory by Van den Bosch. It is 
 also the last to be retained as a Crown monopoly. 
 The coffee tree belongs to the Genus Coffea, a 
 tree indigenous to Arabia and Abyssinia; it grows 
 wild in the province of Caffa in the latter country, 
 
 '7 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 and possibly the name may owe its derivation to 
 this. The tree is an evergreen, and in its natural 
 condition attains a height of from 1 8 to 20 feet; 
 but in cultivation it is not allowed to exceed 8 
 or 10 feet, and is made to grow in a pyramidal 
 form, the lowest branches almost on the ground. 
 In its native home it bears a beautiful snow-white 
 flower, with a fragrant perfume, but the blossom 
 is short lived. The variety grown in Java has a 
 bright red flower, and the coffee plantations pre- 
 sent a delightful appearance when the trees are in 
 bloom. The fruit when ripe is not unlike a small 
 cherry, and is of a dark crimson colour. In each 
 fruit are two seeds embedded in pulp of a bluish or 
 else a yellowish colour, according to the kind of 
 plant. From these berries, after they have gone 
 through the processes of being freed from the 
 pulp, dried, sorted, and finally roasted and 
 ground, the coffee we drink is made. The coffee 
 trees require shade and water, the latter only till 
 the fruit is ripe, and they flourish best on sloping 
 ground at an altitude between 1,500 and 2,800 
 feet. They bear fruit in the third year, but it is 
 not gathered for exportation until the fifth or sixth 
 year; a tree will last for bearing about forty years. 
 We descended rapidly through all these planta- 
 
 252 
 
VIEW FROM HOTEL BELLEVUE, BUITENZORG 
 
BUITENZORG 
 
 tions and rice fields, and enjoyed a wonderful view 
 of the glorious mountains bathed in the glow of 
 the setting sun, until it became so dark that the 
 outside world was blotted out. Our carriage was 
 only lighted by a solitary candle in a lantern, 
 which but served to make darkness visible. How- 
 ever, we had plenty of illumination when we 
 stopped at the large and well-lighted station at 
 Buitenzorg. Here a messenger from the Hotel 
 Bellevue met us. He was Dutch, but told us in 
 excellent English that our rooms were ready for 
 us and the hotel omnibus waiting outside. We 
 were soon within in, and were rapidly conveyed 
 to the Bellevue, which (in spite of the darkness) 
 we could see was a palatial hotel. 
 
 We were given beautiful rooms with balconies; 
 indeed, I had two rooms which opened out of each 
 other, the further one giving access to a spacious 
 verandah completely screened on either side and 
 furnished like a sitting room. The hotel was 
 quite European in style, and had carpets on the 
 floors and curtains to the windows; but its crown- 
 ing glory was its position; as from the balconies of 
 the bedrooms most wonderful views are obtained. 
 From the front of the hotel the river can be seen 
 winding along in a valley of tropical vegetation, 
 
 2 53 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 rustling palms and banana and bamboo trees grow- 
 ing right on its banks, while at intervals clusters 
 of little brown houses look out from the mass of 
 greenery. Light and airy-looking bamboo 
 bridges span the water at intervals, and high above 
 all Mount Salak lifts its green crest. The back 
 of the hotel looks on to the pretty valley of Tjili- 
 wong and beyond to the cultivated and forest-clad 
 slopes of Mount Salak; beyond that again to the 
 crater of an extinct or dormant volcano. I had 
 the river view, and never tired of watching the 
 wonderful panorama spread out before me, and 
 the varying scenes and incidents of native life 
 which were constantly taking place within a 
 stone's throw of my balcony. It was most amus- 
 ing to see the native families coming down early 
 in the morning to bathe in the river, and the 
 women washing clothes there and spreading them 
 out to dry, which they seemed to do all day long; 
 as for the little children, they splashed about in 
 the water from morning till night, evidently 
 thoroughly enjoying it, to judge by their smiling 
 faces and screams of delight. 
 
 The Javanese seem to make every meal a pic- 
 nic, for the meals are all taken in the open air, 
 and it was a constant amusement to watch the 
 
 254 
 
BUITENZORG 
 
 families squatting on their heels round the little 
 tables, eating rice and fruit, and, their repast 
 finished, beginning their basket weaving or other 
 industries, or going off with various kinds of mer- 
 chandise at the end of the long poles slung across 
 their shoulders. It was just like a play with the 
 same scenery, but different actors. 
 
 Buitenzorg means " free from care," and it is 
 the " Sans souci " of the Dutch in Java; the town 
 is a large one, and is situated 853 feet above sea 
 level in the midst of mountains and beautiful 
 scenery. It enjoys a bracing and altogether de- 
 lightful climate, and has the finest Botanical 
 Gardens in the world. Many of the Batavian 
 merchants have houses there, and escape as much 
 as possible from the stifling malaria-laden air of 
 Batavia to the clear freshness of the mountain 
 breezes at Buitenzorg. Rain falls for a couple of 
 hours every afternoon between two and five 
 o'clock, and this moisture and the hot sun in the 
 daytime make it an ideal place for the cultivation 
 of trees, plants and flowers. 
 
 After breakfast at the hotel we set out to see the 
 world-renowned gardens. They are open free to 
 the public; but to visit the Museum, Herbarium, 
 Library, and Laboratories, special permission is 
 
 2 55 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 required. We were quite content with the public 
 part, and had not sufficient time to see even the 
 whole of that. You enter the Gardens through a 
 stone gate close to the Chinese market, and at 
 once find yourself in a long avenue of magnificent 
 kanari trees, planned and laid out over 80 years 
 ago by the famous horticulturist Teysmann. 
 Against these tall trees climbing plants are trained 
 and the trunks are covered with staghorn ferns, 
 ratans, and large orchids such as the Grammato- 
 phyllum speciosum, which often bears three thou- 
 sand blossoms at a time. 
 
 Right and left of the avenue are plots of ground 
 devoted to the culture of various kinds of trees 
 and plants, more than ten thousand species being 
 represented. One is reminded of that once 
 popular book " The Swiss Family Robinson," 
 and that gifted family's experiences in the desert 
 island upon which they were wrecked, where they 
 found trees to supply all their wants. What had 
 seemed impossible in fiction was here in fact; 
 sausage trees with fruit shaped like that tasty 
 edible; soap trees whose fruit is used for washing 
 purposes by the natives; candle trees with what 
 looked like clusters of wax candles hanging on 
 the branches; bread fruit trees; the various palms 
 
 256 
 
BUITENZORG 
 
 yielding sugar, sago, oil, dates, cocoanuts, etc., 
 together with fragrant spice trees of clove and 
 cinnamon; all had their place in this wonderful 
 garden. In addition, the whole array of tropical 
 fruits, pines, melons, mangosteen, mangoes, etc., 
 also flourish and abound. Hanging from the 
 trees are marvellous orchids which look like 
 butterflies or moths fluttering on the branches, as 
 you pass under them to the river which flows 
 through the grounds. On its banks a large 
 number of aquatic plants are cultivated, such as 
 mangroves, giant plants from seaside marshes, 
 and the Egyptian papyrus. Great thickets of 
 frangipanni (Plumieria acutifolia) , the Javanese 
 flower of the dead, are planted, to afford the re- 
 quired shade to delicate shrubs and seedlings, 
 while in beds and on banks are countless many- 
 hued flowers, yellow, white, red, interspersed with 
 beautiful foliage plants, such as crotons, etc., 
 which have their home in this tropical paradise. 
 There is a fine avenue of banyans, those curious 
 trees whose branches hang down till they touch 
 the earth, when they immediately take root and 
 form other trees; near them was a fine specimen of 
 the traveller's palm (Ravenala), whose stems 
 contain the water so welcome to the thirsty way- 
 farer. 
 
 257 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 But in the midst of all the beauty were some 
 strange, evil-looking plants, from which one 
 turned in disgust, such as the Pitcher plant 
 (Nepenthes) , with its horrid pale green mouth 
 that opens to catch insects in its sticky toils and 
 closes upon them at once. There were queer 
 twigs that seemed to crawl, and plants with long, 
 creeping fingers that clutched at, and twisted 
 round, whatever they could get hold of, and held 
 it fast as in a vice; also uncanny looking orchids 
 that seemed more animal than plant; all these gave 
 me a creeping feeling of horror, and were such as 
 one might imagine growing in a witch's garden. 
 
 Leaving these nightmare exotics, we came out 
 on a beautiful green lawn shaded by wairingin and 
 sausage trees in front of the Governor-General's 
 Palace, a large and handsome stone building. It 
 has a fine position in the middle of the gardens, 
 with a pretty park behind it in which herds of 
 deer browse quietly beneath the shady trees, as in 
 Bushey and Richmond Parks at home. Near the 
 palace is a large artificial lake studded with lotus 
 flowers and great water lilies (Victoria Regia) . 
 In the centre of the lake is a gem-like island, 
 covered with feathery palms, papyrus plants and 
 bamboos, and a wealth of red flowers. 
 
 358 
 
BUITENZORG 
 
 A monument, in the form of a Greek temple, 
 marks the last resting place of Lady Raffles, who 
 died while Sir Stamford was Governor of Java. 
 She was buried in this beautiful spot, which was 
 then only a park, and was later made into a botani- 
 cal garden. A special clause concerning the care 
 and upkeep of this tomb was inserted in the treaty 
 that restored Java to the Dutch. 
 
 A bust of Teysmann, who planned the Kanari 
 Avenue, adorns the rose-garden, where roses of 
 many varieties are cultivated; but they are not 
 half so fine as those at Lembang. Special plots of 
 ground have been set apart for the experimental 
 culture of coffee, cinchona, tea, rubber spices, 
 etc., so that the best methods of studying how to 
 combat the diseases and dangers that beset these 
 trees and plants may be carefully studied. But it 
 would be impossible to give anything like an ade- 
 quate description of the marvels of these famous 
 gardens, which were established in 1817 by Rein- 
 wardt, and are justly celebrated as the best 
 scientific tropical gardens of the kind in the world. 
 From them we drove through the town and out to 
 Batoe Toelis or " The place of the inscribed 
 stone/' Here in a bamboo hut is a large stone 
 standing against a wall; it is covered with an in- 
 
 259 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 scription in what we were told was an unknown 
 language, but which is in reality the ancient Kawi 
 or classic language of the Javanese, which is quite 
 incomprehensible to the present-day native. It 
 is regarded as a sacred stone, and offerings are 
 brought to it and incense burned before it. Not 
 far from the Batoe Toelis is a little shrine, which 
 also contains a stone, on which is the imprint of a 
 foot, said to be that of Buddha. If so, he must 
 have had feet of a very large size and of most 
 curious shape. We were now on the top of the 
 hill on which the shrine stood; down below in the 
 valley could be seen the river and the famous 
 bamboo bridge which is here built across it. The 
 bridge is a most graceful structure, with an over- 
 hanging arch, and is made entirely of bamboo. 
 Our way back to the hotel led past a charming lake 
 which was covered with glorious water-lilies, and 
 round by gardens full of cocoa trees. 
 
 The cocoa tree has large, glossy leaves, and 
 bears egg-shaped fruits or pods that have the 
 appearance of being stuck on to the trunk of the 
 tree. The correct name is cacao, and the tree, 
 which is a native of Mexico, belongs to the genus 
 Theobroma (natural order Sterculiacece) . They 
 are small, seldom attaining a height exceeding 
 
 260 
 
PASSER, (MARKET,) BUITENZORG 
 
BUITENZORG 
 
 eighteen feet; the flowers grow in clusters on the 
 main branches and trunks of the trees, and so give 
 the fruit the " stuck on " appearance. The fruit 
 is oval in form, and not unlike an elongated veget- 
 able marrow, about four or five inches in diameter; 
 but the colour, instead of being green, is a dark 
 brownish purple, and the rind is thick and 
 leathery. Inside there are five cells, and in each 
 of these, are arranged in regular order five to ten 
 seeds, surrounded by a pink acid pulp. These 
 seeds are the cocoa beans or raw cocoa. An 
 extraordinary thing about these trees is that they 
 bear buds, flowers and fruit all at the same time, 
 though there is a fixed season for picking and dry- 
 ing the seeds. I got one of the natives to give 
 me a cocoa fruit, and I carried it with me as far 
 as Singapore, hoping to dry it sufficiently in the 
 sun there to enable me to convey it home. Unfor- 
 tunately, at the end of a fortnight, the pod began 
 to show signs of decay, the drying process having 
 been insufficient. Unwilling as I was to part 
 with it, it became so unpleasant that I was obliged 
 to throw it away. But before doing so I cut it 
 open and viewed with interest the symmetrically 
 arranged seeds inside; the pretty pink pulp, how- 
 ever, was quite discoloured. 
 
 261 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 There is a most interesting market at Buiten- 
 zorg, where we saw a wonderful display of the 
 fruits of the earth. Heaped in picturesque con- 
 fusion were yellow bananas, red rambutans, green 
 dukas, prickly-looking pineapples, dark brown 
 mangosteens, giving no hint of their delicious in- 
 terior, papayas, melons, custard apples, etc., 
 tastefully displayed to tempt purchasers; all kinds 
 of baskets, sarong cloths, cooked rice, and many 
 native products were there for sale. It was the 
 largest market we had seen. 
 
 A great number of pleasant trips can be made if 
 the traveller has time from Buitenzorg, and the 
 drives everywhere around the town are an ever- 
 new delight. The broad streets and roads, 
 shaded by lovely kanari and waringen trees, lead 
 past charmingly-built villas, each in a garden 
 which is a vision of beauty, owing to the rare exotic 
 plants, procured no doubt from the Botanic 
 Gardens. After the potted flowers of the gardens 
 in Sourabaya, Bandoeng, and other towns, it was 
 refreshing to look upon most carefully tended beds 
 of brilliant-hued blossoms; not a weed to be seen, 
 not a leaf out of place. 
 
 Buitenzorg is indeed worthy of the praise 
 universally bestowed upon it. 
 
 262 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 BATAVIA 
 
 DURING the short railway ride of about an hour 
 and a half to Batavia, we noticed that, as at Buiten- 
 zorg, the soil was a deep red colour, which seemed 
 to impart a warm glow to the landscape, the rich 
 red earth contrasted with the many shades of green 
 in rice field and palm grove, making a harmony 
 of colour that was exceedingly beautiful. 
 
 Our train passed through a place called Depok, 
 where there is a community of Christian natives; 
 they are the descendants of the slaves whom 
 Chastelein (a member of the Dutch Indies Coun- 
 cil) set free, and endowed with land and money 
 so that they might be independent. The railway 
 line also skirts a bit of primeval forest, preserved 
 by the Dutch Government, all that remains of the 
 vast woods and jungles that once covered the plain 
 of Batavia. 
 
 The station we were bound for was not Batavia 
 proper, but the one situated in the Koningsplein, 
 
 263 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 a vast open space about a mile square in the centre 
 of Weltevreden, the new town or west end of 
 Batavia. There is a very fine railway station, 
 with lofty halls and excellent waiting and refresh- 
 ment rooms, which would do credit to any of the 
 capitals of Europe. 
 
 Weltevreden (well content) is perfectly charm- 
 ing and undoubtedly the finest town in the Dutch 
 East Indies; its tree-lined avenues giving it the 
 appearance of an immense park. In it the 
 wealthy Dutch bankers and merchants have built 
 themselves lordly pleasure houses, many of them 
 of great architectural beauty. Large gardens 
 surround these villas, almost hiding them from 
 view, while the beautiful trees and rare flowers 
 with which these grounds are filled serve to 
 enhance the park-like appearance of the town. 
 
 We arrived late in the afternoon, and drove at 
 once to the Hotel des Indes, which was even more 
 palatial than the Hotel Bellevue at Buitenzorg, 
 and we were soon established in a magnificent set 
 of rooms. In this hotel the various sets of rooms 
 are in separate pavilions connected by covered 
 passages with each other, and all grouped round 
 a main building in the centre of the plot of ground 
 which the hotel occupies. In this respect it was 
 
 264 
 
BATAVIA 
 
 like the Hotel Simpang at Sourabaya, but on a 
 much larger and grander scale. Instead of 
 gravelled paths occupying the space between the 
 large building and the smaller ones, the ground 
 was spacious enough to be laid out in grass lawns 
 in which some fine banyan trees were growing. 
 
 Our rooms were in a large pavilion some dis- 
 tance from the main building, and were entered 
 from a big marble-floored verandah, on which were 
 a table, chairs and a writing desk. From this 
 verandah two lofty doors opened into a huge room 
 as large as a ballroom, furnished most handsomely 
 as a sitting room and lighted by two wide windows. 
 Two doors opposite to those leading into the 
 verandah, and quite as high, gave access to two 
 separate bedrooms, both of immense size, in fact 
 the largest we occupied while in Java. These 
 rooms in turn communicated with another 
 verandah closed in with wire netting, having on 
 one side a bathroom and on the other a door that 
 led into the covered way connecting our pavilion 
 with the next one. 
 
 We were delighted with our quarters, more 
 especially because we had our bathroom in close 
 proximity to our bedrooms. At Buitenzorg the 
 bathing pavilion is a long way from the hotel, on 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 the other side of a big garden. The bedrooms 
 were furnished in the same manner as in the other 
 hotels; but their great size and lofty ceilings gave 
 one a feeling of airiness and coolness that was 
 most grateful in the burning heat of Batavia, 
 which has almost as trying a climate as Soura- 
 baya; even Weltevreden, although it stands much 
 higher than the older part of the town, seemed 
 terribly close and suffocating after the cool moun- 
 tain breezes of Buitenzorg. 
 
 We had dinner in a large dining room in the 
 central building, and discovered that the Hotel 
 des Indes boasted a reception or drawing room in 
 which were Dutch and French books and papers. 
 
 Batavia (including Weltevreden) is quite a 
 Dutch town, just a little bit of the Netherlands 
 in an oriental setting. The native kampongs and 
 Chinese quarters are so successfully hidden away 
 on the outskirts, buried in palm and banana trees, 
 that they are little in evidence, and but for the 
 tropical vegetation one might imagine oneself in 
 Holland. The title of " The Hague of the Far 
 East " which has been applied to Batavia is, 
 therefore, quite appropriate. 
 
 After dinner that night our guide came to us in 
 great perturbation, and asked if he might return 
 
 266 
 
BATAVIA 
 
 home next day, as he was not feeling very well. 
 After some questioning we elicited the fact that 
 he was mortally afraid of cholera, which was pre- 
 valent in Batavia just then. He wanted to leave 
 the place at once lest he should take it. Cholera 
 is always more or less active in Batavia, among the 
 natives; but there had been a specially serious out- 
 break shortly before we came, and several Euro- 
 peans had been attacked by the disease; hence 
 George's alarm. Naturally we were reluctant to 
 let him go, and tried to combat his nervousness 
 and dread; but it was no use. So my brother gave 
 the required permission. In his present state of 
 fright he might have fallen an easy prey to the 
 disease. We missed him exceedingly, as he had 
 been most attentive and intelligent, indeed quite 
 satisfactory in every respect. Since we had to 
 part from him, it could not have been in a more 
 suitable place than Batavia; as it is the one town 
 in Java where there is no difficulty in finding 
 people who understand and speak English. 
 
 Next morning after we had said good-bye, with 
 many regrets, to our guide, we took a carriage to 
 see the sights of Batavia. As we had business 
 with Messrs. Burns Philp's Company, whose 
 offices were in Batavia city, we decided to go there 
 
 267 
 
 18 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 at once, and from thence explore the old part of 
 the town, instead of beginning with the newer por- 
 tion where our hotel was. From the broad 
 avenues of Weltevreden we turned into narrow, 
 crooked streets, in one of which Burns Philp's 
 office had found a home. Anything more unlike 
 an office according to our Western ideas it would 
 be difficult to find. The ground floor was a dark 
 place littered with packing cases, among which 
 we picked our way to a ladder-like staircase, such 
 as is used in stables to reach a loft above. This 
 gave access to the upper floor, where in a large 
 bare room a number of Chinese clerks were busily 
 engaged at their desks, which seemed to be the 
 only furniture in the apartment. A portion of 
 the room was partitioned off to make an inner 
 office for the Company's Agent. Into this we 
 were ushered, and found Mr. McC. most cour- 
 teous and obliging, anxious to give us every 
 assistance in his power. 
 
 We had intended going on to Singapore by the 
 German steamer, due to leave Batavia on the 
 following Saturday, but found it was impossible 
 to obtain the necessary accommodation. The 
 next German boat would not leave till a week 
 later, and we had come to find out if we could 
 
 268 
 
BATAVIA 
 
 travel by some other line and avoid the long wait. 
 The agent told us that a Dutch cargo boat, which 
 took a few passengers, was to leave for Singapore 
 on the following Sunday, a day later than the 
 German steamer. It did not sound very promis- 
 ing; but we decided to take our chance in it. It 
 was, moreover, rather annoying to find we could 
 not choose our berths until we were on board. 
 This important matter settled, Mr. McC. kindly 
 told us what we ought to see in old Batavia, and 
 accompanied us to our carriage to give our coach- 
 man the necessary directions. It was exceedingly 
 kind of him to take so much trouble, and owing 
 to his courtesy we saw much that otherwise we 
 should have missed. 
 
 Batavia is no longer the " Queen City/' the 
 home of the merchant princes of the Dutch East 
 India Company; the only relics of her former 
 magnificence are a few of the beautiful old gabled 
 houses, fallen, alas, from their high estate, and 
 used now only as offices and warehouses. In 
 1619 the Dutch built Batavia on the banks of the 
 Tji-Liwong river, on the site of the ancient town 
 of Djokatra, removing to it from Bantam, the 
 former capital of the Dutch East Indies. They 
 spared no pains to make their Eastern home as 
 
 269 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 much like a little bit of Holland as possible, and, 
 ignoring the necessities of a hot climate, they re- 
 produced the picturesque, but airless, red brick 
 houses of their native land. They also cut canals 
 from the river through the town, and planted their 
 banks with straight rows of trees in true Dutch 
 style. Unfortunately, this Dutch-looking town, 
 having been built in swampy land near the mouth 
 of the river, proved terribly unhealthy; the Euro- 
 pean houses were most unsuitable for a hot country 
 like Java; the canals, instead of flowing with cool- 
 ing water, became choked with the debris from 
 the volcanoes, the stagnant water in them was a 
 source of danger and a cause of fever and malaria; 
 the death rate was appalling, and over a million 
 white men died in the space of 22 years. The 
 city of Batavia earned a bad reputation, and was 
 known as the " graveyard of Europeans/' " The 
 gridiron of the East," the most unwholesome 
 place in the universe, etc. 
 
 It took the authorities a long time to realise that 
 the high death rate was due to the unhealthy posi- 
 tion of the town; but at last they grasped the situa- 
 tion, and most reluctantly abandoned their 
 eighteenth-century houses and built on much 
 higher ground dwellings that were more suitable 
 
 270 
 
BATAVIA 
 
 for a tropical climate. Marshal Daendals, with 
 characteristic energy, set about building a new 
 town in a better position, and did not hesitate to 
 pull down many of the old houses in order to make 
 the streets wider. Old Batavia is now only used 
 by the Dutch in the daytime as a business centre; 
 at sunset they depart from it and go to their homes 
 in Weltevreden, where they are immune from the 
 death-dealing miasma of the marshes that sur- 
 round the lower town. 
 
 Our driver took us to see some of these quaint 
 and beautiful old houses, looking much out of 
 place in their present squalid surroundings; then 
 we drove to the old Town Hall, which is a very 
 fine building; from it we went to see the Gate, all 
 that remains of the ancient Batavian Castle and 
 of the wall that at one time surrounded the town. 
 It is flanked by two life-size statues of warriors in 
 bronze or some such metal. To me they looked 
 very like North American Indians, but I could not 
 get any accurate information concerning them. 
 Not far from this gate, under the shade of some 
 trees, is an ancient gun (Meriam) which the 
 natives hold sacred. It is guarded day and night 
 by the Javanese, and a fire is always kept burning 
 before it. Tradition says that somewhere in Java 
 
 271 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 is a similar cannon hidden away; when the second 
 one is found, Java will once more belong to the 
 Javanese, and the foreign usurper will be expelled 
 from the land. Our next visit was to the old Por- 
 tuguese church, but it was closed, and we did not 
 succeed in rinding the caretaker to let us in. It 
 is a large, gloomy building surrounded by a grave- 
 yard. Beyond the church, in a lonely part of the 
 road that skirts the canal, there is a high stone 
 wall of grim and forbidding aspect. In one place 
 it is surmounted by a man's skull fixed on a pike; 
 beneath is a tablet with an inscription in Dutch and 
 Malay. Our driver pointed out this gruesome 
 object to us, and we got out of the carriage and 
 walked up the weedy and grassgrown path that 
 led to it that we might inspect it more closely. It 
 was indeed a gloomy and sinister spot. Later we 
 learned that the skull had belonged to one Peter 
 Elberfeld, a half-caste, who conspired with the 
 natives against the Dutch in 1722. According to 
 Sir Stamford Raffles' account, the Dutch rule in 
 Java was distinguished by an arrogant assumption 
 of superiority for the purpose of overawing the 
 natives, together with an unaccountable timidity 
 that made them suspect treachery and danger in 
 most unexpected quarters. Peter Elberfeld had 
 
 272 
 
BATAVIA 
 
 an intense hatred of the Dutch; he joined with the 
 native princes in a wide-spread conspiracy to 
 massacre the whole white population in Java. At 
 a given time there was to be a simultaneous in- 
 surrection of the natives all over the island, and 
 every European was to be put to death. All 
 Elberfeld's plans were ready for execution, when 
 an unforseen circumstance revealed the dastardly 
 plot, and swift and condign punishment was meted 
 out to the ringleaders. Elberfeld had a niece 
 living with him, who not only did not join with 
 her uncle in his hatred of the Dutch, but had 
 secretly fallen in love with a young Dutch officer. 
 She knew it was useless to ask Elberfeld's con- 
 sent to the marriage, so arranged with her lover 
 to elope from her uncle's house and get married 
 without his knowledge. The night before this 
 was to take place she could not sleep, so strong 
 was her remorse at what she felt was base ingrati- 
 tude to one who had always shown her the greatest 
 affection and kindness. Wrapped in thought, she 
 was gazing out into the night from the verandah 
 outside her room, when her attention was attracted 
 by the sound of stealthy movements near her, and 
 she could distinguish dark forms that stole silently 
 out from among the trees and passed into the house 
 
 273 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 by the side door. Much alarmed, she went to her 
 uncle's room to rouse him, but found it empty. 
 Hearing the murmur of voices in the dining room, 
 she went to its closed door, and looking through 
 the keyhole discovered it was full of people talking 
 in subdued tones. She listened for a few minutes 
 and learned the nature of the plot, and heard the 
 conspirators take the most solemn oaths to be true 
 to each other and carry out their scheme of ven- 
 geance on their enemies to the bitter end. 
 
 The girl was overwhelmed with horror, and dis- 
 tracted at the dilemma in which she found her- 
 self, and she hesitated long between the affection 
 and gratitude she owed her uncle, and the love and 
 devotion she had for her betrothed. But the love 
 for her future husband prevailed, and she revealed 
 to him what the conspirators had planned. Her 
 fiance at once gave information to the authorities, 
 and on the next night, the very night the elope- 
 ment was to have taken place, soldiers surrounded 
 Elberfeld's house, and he and his fellow con- 
 spirators were arrested and charged with their 
 crime. All the native princes who had joined in 
 the plot were put to death in an ignominious 
 manner, but in Elberfeld's case the wrath and 
 vengeance of the Dutch required that his body 
 
 274 
 
BATAVIA 
 
 should be torn to pieces. Each of his four limbs 
 was tied to a horse and the animals were then 
 driven by whips in four different directions. As 
 a last indignity his head was cut off and stuck on 
 an iron pike, which was fastened above the gate 
 leading into his house. The entrance was then 
 walled up so that none might in future set foot in 
 the traitor's home; underneath the ghastly trophy 
 was placed a tablet with an inscription, a transla- 
 tion of which reads as follows: 
 
 ' In consequence of the detested memory of 
 Peter Elberfeld, who was punished for treason, 
 no one shall be permitted to build in wood or stone 
 or to plant anything whatsoever in these grounds, 
 from this time forth for evermore. Batavia, April 
 22, 1722." 
 
 The girl gained nothing by the betrayal of her 
 uncle; she was not even allowed to marry the 
 Dutch officer for whose sake she had given the 
 information. 
 
 Leaving this desolate and uncanny place, we 
 continued our drive along the canal, and could 
 almost have imagined we were in Holland. A 
 tramway that runs beside the canal provides a 
 means of transit between the old town and the new. 
 
 The port of Batavia is Tandjong Priok, six 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 miles off, situated on the Bay of Batavia. The 
 harbour can supply safe anchorage to vessels of 
 almost any tonnage. The stone quays are lined 
 with warehouses, but no dwelling-houses for 
 Europeans are built at Tandjong Priok. It 
 stands on too low ground to be healthy. Com- 
 munication between the port and Batavia is main- 
 tained by railway and canal; there is also a well- 
 kept road between the two places. 
 
 We had now exhausted the sights of Batavia 
 Old Town, so we continued our drive to Weltevre- 
 den, and visited the immense open space in the 
 centre of that town, known at Konigsplein. Here 
 are railway station, Governor's house, Regent's 
 house, and the beautiful white building in the form 
 of a Greek temple that contains the celebrated 
 museum of the Society of Arts and Sciences, 
 founded in 1778. Outside this building is a large, 
 bronze elephant, presented by the King of Siam. 
 A wide street connects the Konigsplein with a 
 smaller square, designated Waterlooplein. Here, 
 to my surprise, there is a monument, " The Lion 
 of Waterloo, " commemorating the battle of 
 Waterloo. It is generally believed that that great 
 victory was mainly due to British pertinacity and 
 valour, but a Latin inscription on the Java 
 
BATAVIA 
 
 memorial informs the public " that it was the 
 courage and stedfastness of the Belgians who were 
 then Dutch subjects that turned the tide at that 
 battle, thus securing the defeat of the French and 
 the peace of the World." One lives and learns! 
 
 In the same square (Waterlooplein) is a statue 
 of Jan Coen, who founded Batavia in 1619; there 
 is also an iron pyramid to the memory of General 
 Michiels. From the Waterlooplein we pro- 
 ceeded to visit the Chinese quarters, which are 
 extremely interesting, and we had the good for- 
 tune to see a Chinese wedding precession. On 
 our way back to the hotel we passed the handsome 
 club building " Harmonie," and some fine shops. 
 The shops in Batavia will bear comparison with 
 those in any town in Europe; one of them, called 
 " East and West," contains a splendid assort- 
 ment of Javanese curiosities. 
 
 We devoted the whole of the next day to the 
 Museum, and yet had but a cursory view of its 
 wonders. Weeks might be spent in that treasure- 
 house without exhausting its marvels. The 
 Director or Curator of the Museum was a most 
 polite Dutch gentleman, and we were greatly 
 indebted to him for his courtesy and kindness. 
 As he knew very little English, he sent for his 
 
 277 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 daughter to take us round and explain things to 
 us. This young lady spoke fluent English, and 
 took a great deal of trouble, as our time was so 
 limited, to point out just the curiosities and 
 antiquities that were most worthy of notice, and 
 her ciceroneship made all the difference to our 
 enjoyment. 
 
 The Museum is a perfect treasure-house of 
 Javanese antiquities; here are displayed ancient 
 weapons; curiously shaped musical instruments, 
 gorgeous robes worn in days long past by the Sul- 
 tans and Princes of Java; wonderful sarongs, 
 batiked in a manner rarely seen nowadays, and 
 embroidered with gold and silver thread; finely 
 wrought specimens of ancient metal work; a large 
 assortment of Krises, with damascened blades and 
 jewelled scabbards; and exquisitely carved and 
 ornamented chairs, tables and couches. Won- 
 derful Javanese ornaments, such as necklaces, 
 earrings, bracelets, etc., were arranged in glass- 
 cases. One room was set apart for the grotesque 
 figures and masks formerly used in the puppet 
 shows and shadow pictures; these were most 
 amusing. There were also models of houses and 
 villages, and of Buddhist temples; the latter being 
 in many cases adorned with precious stones. 
 
 278 
 
BATAVIA 
 
 There were some ancient coffins, a rather grue- 
 some sight, but we were thankful to find these had 
 no occupants. 
 
 One apartment of the Museum has in it a famous 
 collection of coins and medallions. 
 
 The entrance hall, which is large and lofty, 
 contains statues and has reliefs, and some enor- 
 mous Buddhas. I think, however, what pleased 
 us most of all was the old Dutch furniture, brought 
 from Holland three hundred years ago, by the 
 earliest settlers, in order to give a home-like 
 appearance to their dwellings in the tropics. 
 There were beds, chairs, tables, bureaux, chests, 
 boxes, etc., all carved or inlaid; specimens of skill 
 and artistic design not to be matched in these days. 
 There was a wonderful collection also of old 
 Dutch glass and china, some of which must have 
 been in existence a century or more before it took 
 the long journey to Java. 
 
 On leaving the Museum, after expressing our 
 great gratitude to our guide, we visited the Co- 
 operative and Mutual Assistance Stores ("Eigen 
 Hulp " and " Onderlinge Hulp "), great shops 
 modelled on the lines of the Army and Navy 
 Stores, and also the large emporium " East and 
 West/' at the back of the Harmonie Club, and 
 
 279 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 made some purchases in both places without any 
 difficulty, as the assistants spoke very good Eng- 
 lish. We were greatly amused at a native we 
 met on the way who was supposed to be watering 
 the streets. He had an ordinary watering-can 
 under each arm from which he sprinkled water on 
 the road. When they were empty he filled them 
 out of the canal close by. It was easy to see that 
 time was no object with the Javanese, as, at the 
 rate the man was working, it would take a day to 
 water one street. 
 
 The funeral of a Dutch soldier attracted our 
 attention on account of the lugubrious appearance 
 of the horses attached to the hearse. Th,e poor 
 beasts, in that torrid climate, had a pall-like cover- 
 ing of black velvet almost reaching to the ground, 
 their eyes looked out from slits in the velvet, and 
 were the only part of them to be seen, with the 
 exception of their feet. 
 
 They presented such an absurd appearance in 
 their sombre drapery that, in spite of the solemn 
 occasion, one could not forbear a smile. 
 
 The Government offices in Weltevreden are 
 housed in the old palace of Governor General 
 Daendals, and the walls of the Assembly Room 
 in the same place are adorned with life-size por- 
 
 280 
 
BATAVIA 
 
 traits of all the Governors of the Dutch East 
 Indies. 
 
 Besides the " Harmonic " Club there is also a 
 military one, called the " Concordia," where all 
 the rank and fashion of Batavia meet on two or 
 three evenings a week to listen to good music and 
 display their fine clothes. 
 
 We had an invitation to the concert there that 
 evening, but as we had packed up for our early 
 start next day, we regretfully declined it. 
 
 We had to be at the station the following morn- 
 ing before 6.30 o'clock, which meant rising about 
 5a.m. We were fortunate in getting a man from 
 the hotel who spoke English to interpret for us, 
 and to look after our luggage on the way to the 
 steamer, so we did not miss our guide. 
 
 The railway ride to the Docks is through low- 
 lying, s\vampy land, and we did not wonder that 
 malaria and the deadly Java fever had worked such 
 havoc among the early settlers in that unhealthy 
 part. 
 
 On our arrival at Tandjong Priok, the port of 
 Batavia, we were thankful to find we could go on 
 board the ship from the wharf, instead of having to 
 be rowed out to it in a sampan as at Sourabaya, 
 for we had no desire to repeat our disastrous 
 experience there. 
 
 281 
 
A JOURNEY TO JAVA 
 
 Our steamer was called the " Baud/* named 
 after Jean Chretien Baud, a distinguished Dutch- 
 man. We were specially interested in it, for it 
 was the first steamer in which we had been, where 
 oil fuel was used. 
 
 The captain told us that oil was much cheaper 
 and more satisfactory than coal, and that he should 
 use 700 tons in the two days' passage from Batavia 
 to Singapore. 
 
 It was with much regret that we saw the shores 
 of the fair island of Java receding from our view; 
 we had enjoyed every moment of our stay in that 
 beautiful " Garden of the East," and throughout 
 our journeyings had met with the greatest kind- 
 ness and courtesy from the Dutch officials and 
 residents, and had encountered none of the 
 irritating restrictions and difficulties complained 
 of by many travellers. To this enchanting land 
 we may apply without reservation a phrase well- 
 known in relation to another of the world's 
 loveliest spots: See Java and die! 
 
 THE END 
 
INDEX 
 
 Abrea, Antoniode, 30. 
 Agassiz, 15. 
 Agung Mt., 67. 
 Aloon-aloon, 163, 237. 
 Amok, 176, 177. 
 
 Archeological Society, Djokja- 
 karta, 184. 
 Ardjoens, in, 130. 
 Army, Dutch in Java, 144. 
 Atje\ 219, 220. 
 Asoka, 1 80. 
 Australian Commonwealth, 31. 
 
 Botanical Gardens, Port Darwin, 
 
 61-63. 
 ,, ,, Buitenzorg, 
 
 244. 253-259. 
 Brahmanism, 67. 
 Brisbane, 2, 4, 8-10. 
 Bromo, 114, 119-129, 199. 
 Buddha, Gautama, 178, 179, 180, 
 
 181, 192-195, 200. 
 Buddhism, 178, 179, 249. 
 Buitenzorg, 84, 142, 249, 251, 
 
 253-263. 
 
 Burns Philp, i, 26, 27, 34, 36, 
 73, 267, 268. 
 
 Bagendit Lake, 211. 
 Bali, 65, 66, 67. 
 Bandoeng, 230, 236-241, 249. 
 Barrow Falls, 17. 
 Barrow River, 15. 
 Batavia, 72, 263-276, 281. 
 Baths, 93-95, 221, 239, 265. 
 Batik, 134, 166, 167. 
 Batoe Toelis, 259, 260. 
 Batok Mt., 123, 126. 
 Beche-de-Mer, 50, 51. 
 Betel, 136. 
 Birds, Java, 235. 
 
 ,, New Guinea, 33. 
 
 ,, Port Darwin, 63. 
 Boro Boeder, 172, 177-199. 
 
 Cacao, (Cocoa,) 260, 261. 
 Cairns, 15, 17, 19, 21, 30, 36. 
 Caroline Islands, 30. 
 Cassowary, 33, 37, 38, 39. 
 Chinese Stewards, 3. 
 Chinese in Java, 78, 80, 140, 277. 
 Cinchona, 244-246. 
 Climate, Brisbane, 9. 
 
 ,, Java, 108, 134, 140, 
 237. 255, 270. 
 
 ,, Papua, 32. 
 Coffee, 145, 251, 252. 
 Coinage, 71. 
 
 Commonwealth Government, 30. 
 Copra, 50. 
 Coral Reef, 12, 13, 14, 15. 
 
 283 
 
INDEX 
 
 Coral Sea, 2, 21, 30. 
 Costume, Native, Java, 78, 79. 
 
 ,, ,, New Guinea, 29. 
 
 Crotons, 24, 35, 61. 
 Culture System, 141, 1-45-149, 
 251. 
 
 Dana, 12, 14. 
 
 Dcendals, 145, 152, 271, 280. 
 Danby, Frank, A.R.A., 226. 
 Darwin, 12, 14. 
 Depok, 263. 
 
 Dhyani-Buddhas, 192, 193. 
 Diamonds, 18, 220. 
 Dicng Mountains, 227. 
 
 ,, Plateau, 202, 224. 
 Djokjakarta, 134, 144, 151, 156- 
 
 171, 204. 
 Dodok, 158. 
 
 East India Company, 30. 
 
 Elavara, 47. 
 
 Elberfeld, Peter, 272-275. 
 
 Garoet, 205-211, 222, 228-231. 
 Gedeh Mt., 250. 
 German New Guinea, 31. 
 Government of Java, 142-144. 
 
 Papua, 31. 
 
 Great Barrier Reef, 2, 11-16, 21, 
 
 27. 
 
 Grimshaw, Miss B., 34, 57. 
 Groneman, Dr., 184, 186, 188, 
 
 190, 192, 193. 
 Guides, 89. 
 
 Goenoeng Goentor, 205, 213, 222. 
 Gunong-Agung, 66. 
 
 Hanuabada, 40, 45, 46. 
 Hibiscus, 24, 35, 61. 
 Hinduism in Bali, 67. 
 Hotel, Bellevue, Buitenzorg, 253. 
 
 ,, DCS Indes, Batavia, 264, 
 265. 
 
 ,, Homann, Bandoeng, 236, 
 
 237- 
 ,, Simpang, Sourabaya, 81, 
 
 265. 
 
 ,, Toogoe, Djokjakarta, 156. 
 ,, Van Horck, Garoet, 208, 
 
 222. 
 Humboldt, Wilhelm Von, 192. 
 
 Fauna, New Guinea, 34. 
 Flora, New Guinea, 33. 
 Foerset, 224. 
 
 Fiangipanni, 215, 216, 257. 
 Fruits, Java, 98, 99, 257, 262. 
 ,, Queensland, 18. 
 
 Industries, New Guinea, 32. 
 
 Gamelan, 168, 169. 
 
 Java, Geographical position, 70. 
 
 ,, History of, 69-70. 
 Junghuhn, 244. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Kabaja, 78, 93, 229. 
 
 Kali, 201. 
 
 Kali Mas, 139, 140. 
 
 Kalong, 209, 210. 
 
 Kannri trees, 157, 178, 259, 262. 
 
 Kapok, 228. 
 
 Kent, W. Savile, 57. 
 
 Kiwi, 33. 
 
 Koningsplein, 263, 276. 
 
 Kosong, 76. 
 
 Kris, 169, 170, 278. 
 
 Moreton Island, n. 
 Museum, Batavia, 276-279. 
 Murray, Sir John, 14. 
 Music, 168, 169, 213. 
 
 New Guinea, 2, 22, 26, 28, 34. 
 
 ,, ,, German, 31. 
 Nirvana, 180, 190, 193, 196. 
 North, Miss Marianne, 197. 
 
 Language, Java, 144. 
 
 ,, New Guinea, 48. 
 
 Lcmbang, 241, 243, 249, 259. 
 Lizards, 171, 204, 210. 
 Lombok, 65, 66. 
 Loro Jonggran, 201. 
 
 M 
 
 Madjapahit, 141, 168. 
 
 Malang, 202. 
 
 Malay, 89, 144. 
 
 Mangosteen, 97. 
 
 Mataram, i, 3, 6, 10, 43, 66, 68, 
 
 73, IS*. 194- 
 
 Max, Havelaar, 148, 149. 
 Mendoet, 199-201. 
 Merapi, 197. 
 Merbaboe, 197. 
 Mission Station, New Guinea, 
 
 47, 48-50- 
 
 Moengal, 122, 123, 125, 129. 
 Moentilan, 172. 
 Molucca Islands, 30. 
 Monsoon, 21. 
 
 Pajong, 165, 196. 
 
 Panji, 169, 170. 
 
 Papandajan, 217, 222. 
 
 Papua, 31. 
 
 Papuans, 20. 
 
 Passports, 71, 76. 
 
 Pelew Islands, 14. 
 
 Pinkebah, 8. 
 
 Port Darwin, 60, 61, 64, 65. 
 
 Port Kennedy, 54. 
 
 Port Moresby, 19, 25, 29, 31, 
 
 34-5i- 
 
 Prambanan, 201, 202. 
 Preanger, 234, 235, 237. 
 
 Queensland, u, 18, 30, 53. 
 Quetta, 56, 57. 
 Quinine, see Cinchona. 
 
 Raffles, Lady, 259. 
 Raffles, Sir Stamford, 146, 152, 
 183, 272. 
 
 285 
 
INDEX 
 
 Rafts, Java, 172, 214. 
 
 ,, New Guinea, 41. 
 Ramies, 44. 
 Regents, 142, 143, 237. 
 Reinwardt, 259. 
 Residents, 142, 143, 165, 237. 
 Rice-fields, 153, 154, 175. 
 Riztavel, 86, 92, 236. 
 
 Sados, 76. 
 Salak Mt., 254. 
 Samarai, 22-25, 26. 
 Sanatorium Tosari, 90, 107, 108, 
 
 119, 130. 
 
 Sarong, 78, 79, 93, 166, 229. 
 Saville, Kent, 15. 
 Scidmore, Miss, 71, 158, 159, 
 
 171. 
 
 Singapore, 4, 55, 72, 175, 282. 
 Slendang, 79, 166. 
 Smeroe, 121, 124. 
 Solo, 151. 
 Sourabaya, 72, 74, 75-99, 116, 
 
 Sugar, 154, 155. 
 Sultan, 144, 151, 163. 
 Susuhunan, 144, 151. 
 
 Taman Sarie, 159-163. 
 Tandjong Priok, 275, 276, 281, 
 282. 
 
 Tangkoeban Prahoe, 217, 239, 
 
 241-249. 
 
 Tea culture, 231-233. 
 Tengger Mts., 112, 113, 202. 
 Tenggerese, in, 113, 115, 141. 
 Thursday Island, 4, 16, 40, 52- 
 
 59- 
 
 Tjandi Barabadur, 183. 
 Tjandi Loro Jonggran, 201. 
 Tjandi Sewoe, 201. 
 Tjandi Singosari, 202. 
 
 Upas Tree, 224-228. 
 
 Van den Bosch, 145, 147, 149, 
 
 251. 
 Vorstenlanden, 151. 
 
 W 
 
 Wallaby, 34, 65. 
 
 Wallace, Alfred Russell, 34, 184, 
 
 235- 
 
 Watercastle, see Taman Sarie. 
 Wayang, 168. 
 Weltevreden, 142, 264, 271, 276, 
 
 280. 
 
 Zandsee, 123, 126, 128, 129. 
 
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