^Jcr^ames^ (jomerSoefTu, SzJart. 
 
THACKER & Co., Ld., BOMBAY, 
 
FROM 
 JUNGLE 
 TO 
 JAVA. 
 
 / cl ' ■ <nt^^t^ 
 
From Jungle to Java. 
 
 THE TRIVIAL IMPRESSIONS OF A 
 SHORT EXCURSION TO NETHERLANDS INDIA. 
 
 I " ^-..- 4 
 
 BV 
 
 ARTHUR KEYSER, 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 Our Cruise in New Guinea," "Cut by the Mess," 
 "An Exile's Romance," etc., etc. 
 
 mm 
 
 lilt r 
 
 THE 
 ROXBURGHE PRESS, 
 
 LIMITED, 
 
 Fifteen, Victoria Street, 
 Westminster. 
 
OS 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 I. A Select Community i 
 
 II. The Start 7 
 
 III. Singapore 14 
 
 IV. On the Way to Java ig 
 
 V. Batavia 23 
 
 VI. An Official Call 34 
 
 VII. A Concert at the Concordia Club 39 
 
 VIII. Concerning the Lomboh War ... 44 
 
 IX. Buitenzorg ... 49 
 
 X. Customs and Costumes 56 
 
 XI. An Untimely Call 62 
 
 XII. A Model Estate 66 
 
 XIII. Among the Roses 76 
 
 XIV. Garvet 84 
 
 XV. Baths and Volcanoes 89 
 
 XVI. The Quest for a Mother 94 
 
 XVII. The Quest Continued. Tjilatjap 99 
 
 XVIII. The Quest Successful. The 
 
 Wodena's House 109 
 
 XIX. A Village Home in Java 115 
 
 XX. Back to the Jungle 120 
 
 -^ )-'*"»-»y 
 
 lVvaG43 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A SELECT COMMUNITY. 
 
 Mr. X., whose impressions and mild adventures I 
 have undertaken the task of editing, has asked 
 me to narrow his personal introduction to such 
 limits as is consistent with the courtesy due to 
 my readers, if haply I find any. He prefers, as 
 his pseudonym implies, to remain an unknown 
 quantity. I need only explain that he is an 
 officer employed in one of the small States of 
 the Malay Peninsula, which are (very much) 
 under the protection of the Colonial Government 
 of the Straits Settlements. The latter, with 
 careful forethought for their ease-loving rulers, 
 appoints officers to relieve them of all the cares 
 and duties of administration, and absolves them 
 from the responsibility of a Government some- 
 what more progressive in its policy than might 
 commend itself to Oriental ideas, if left without 
 such outside assistance. 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 As the title intimates, Mr. X.'s duties compel 
 him to make his home in the jungle. The word 
 has many significations in the East, where it is 
 often used to express a region remote from 
 civilization, although perhaps consisting of 
 barren mountains or treeless plains. Mr. X.'s 
 jungle, however, is one realizing what it repre- 
 sents to the untravelled Englishman. It is a 
 land of hill and dale covered with thickly growing 
 forest trees, with here and there by the side of 
 the rivers, which are Nature's thoroughfares, or 
 the main roads made by man, small oases of 
 cultivation. It is a beautiful country, with a 
 climate which those who live in it — and they are 
 the best witnesses — declare to be healthy and 
 agreeable. And the members of the small com- 
 munity who form the European population 
 take a personal pride in the amenities of their 
 beautiful retreat, with its perennial verdure, and 
 glory in their " splendid isolation." Criticisms 
 are resented, and suggestions of indisposition 
 due to climatic influence held to be little short of 
 traitorous. So, as may be imagined, it was a 
 matter of no ordinary interest when X. not only 
 complained of being unwell, but also developed 
 signs of a chronic discontent. For X. — no Mr. 
 was necessary in that little round-table club — 
 certainly was unwell. Of this there could be no 
 doubt, and such a condition of body was little 
 short of an abuse of the privileges of the place. 
 
A SELECT COMMUNITY. 
 
 But since he could give no real explanation 
 of his feelings, and only sighed vaguely when 
 engaged in the daily preprandial game of billiards 
 at the club, it was thought best to ignore 
 his new departure, and to leave the subject 
 severely alone. 
 
 However, the effect of this wise treatment was 
 entirely ruined by the arrival of the doctor, who 
 bore the sounding official designation of the 
 Residency surgeon. This gentleman was wont 
 to be sceptical in the matter of ailments, limiting 
 his recognition only to honest, downright illness 
 worthy of the attention of a medico whose name 
 stood in front of a formidable array of honourable 
 letters, too numerous for him to mention. But 
 even really great people are not always strictly 
 consistent, and occasionally make small lapses 
 from the straight path of precedent — and so this 
 man of science deigned to cast an eye of interest 
 upon the ailment of X. That it should be worthy 
 of notice at all was enough for the companions of 
 the now much-appreciated invalid, but when the 
 great man added to his notice by bestowing a 
 classical name, expressions of sympathy knew no 
 bounds, and the unwonted solicitude was almost 
 more than the sufferer could bear with the 
 dignified attitude of conscious merit fitting to 
 the occasion. Something rather distingue had 
 happened to the place, something quite new. A 
 vulgar complaint was a subject for reprobation 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 and not sympathy, as casting discredit on this 
 salubrious retreat, but a malady composed of two 
 words out of the Greek Lexicon conferred a 
 distinction perhaps unknown to, and to be envied 
 by, the larger communities beyond the pass. The 
 matter was most seriously discussed, and the 
 decision arrived at that X. wanted a change. Not 
 exactly that a change would do him good, but 
 because, when he came back, the change, from 
 the place he went to, to his happy home in Pura 
 Pura, would work wonders for his health. As 
 the doctor endorsed the former part of the 
 verdict, rather modifying it by suggesting, that 
 there were few conditions of health when a 
 change would not be beneficial to a hard-worked 
 official, there remained nothing but to select the 
 spot to which X. — his leave once granted — must 
 go. It would never, of course, do that he should 
 go to Penang, or even to Hong Kong or Japan, 
 such an expedition would be too ordinary and 
 commonplace. It was felt that X. should do 
 something worthy of the occasion, and show his 
 appreciation of the place he lived in by going to 
 one as similar in respect of people and scenery as 
 could be found, and so, when the person chiefly 
 concerned, knowing what was expected of him, 
 suggested Java, the idea was accepted, and Java 
 it was settled to be. And that night at the Club 
 there was a long sitting, and Manop, the patient 
 barman, had to record the disappearance of many 
 
A SELECT COMMUNITY. 
 
 extra " stengahs,"* as the matter was discussed 
 in all its bearings. Those of the community who 
 had been to Java recalled their experiences and 
 recollections of that country, rather to the 
 annoyance of those others whose travels, though 
 perhaps more extended, had not led them in the 
 same direction, and thus had to accept the 
 unwelcome role of silent listeners. However, 
 goaded by long endurance, one of the party, the 
 scene of whose stories mostly lay in the Anti- 
 podes, remarked that certainly when X. returned 
 from Java he must write a book about it, because 
 if he had only half as much to communicate 
 as the present speakers, the book would be full 
 of information. This little sarcasm was entirely 
 spoilt by being taken literally, as it was at once 
 decided that X. must write a book. Vainly he 
 protested that it would be impossible to write a 
 book after only a brief visit to a place, as he 
 could only put into it what was already known 
 to others ; his objections were over-ruled, and 
 he was reminded that only the other day, when 
 H. E., the Governor, progressed (which is the 
 official rendering of travelled) through a neigh- 
 bouring State (known to those present only too 
 painfully well, through many weary days spent in 
 the jungles while exploring and actually construc- 
 ting the path over which this " progress " was 
 subsequently made), one of the party wrote a 
 * Local name for " peg." 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 book which announced the discovery of a newly 
 found place, and even went so far as to sniff 
 severely at the presumption of those who had 
 undergone these early days of toil, because 
 certain grateful pioneers had named various 
 landmarks after friends who had assisted them in 
 the first months of settlement. " If that State, 
 which we know so well, was discovered so 
 recently," urged one of the speakers, "why not 
 discover Java ? " " And as for a fortnight being 
 too brief a time," suggested another — "did the 
 Progress take longer ? " And thus, it being an 
 unwritten law in Pura Pura that the wishes of 
 the community should be respected, X. having 
 now returned from leave, has commissioned a 
 chronicler to write about what he saw in Java, 
 though it would be an easier task were the latter 
 allowed to write about the community. But that 
 must not be — at any rate now. Java is the theme 
 — that, and no other. 
 
THE START. 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 THE START. 
 
 In the few days which elapsed before the due 
 arrival of official permission for X. to leave the 
 jungle, it might have been observed that he was 
 changed. The hitherto sedate individual became 
 fussy and worried, and members of The Com- 
 munity agreed that he was "journey-proud" — a 
 happy expression used by one of the neighbouring 
 Malay potentates when wishing to describe his feel- 
 ings at a time of emerging from the security of his 
 own retreat. But there was much to do — clothes 
 not looked at since the distant days when they left 
 those cities on the other side of the pass, had to 
 be inspected and all their lapses laid bare — moths 
 had eaten holes in most conspicuous places, and 
 in others rats had, literally, made their nests. 
 The shirts were whitened shams, as they lay, no 
 more than so many "dickeys," in a row, for 
 when unfolded it was found that they had lost 
 their tails, long since the prey of cockroaches or 
 bedding for the young of mice; collars, when 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 severed from their fray, were sadly diminished in 
 height, and the overhauling of the boot depart- 
 ment revealed the fact that there was nothing 
 that would bear a more critical eye than that of 
 "The Community." However, the best had to 
 be made of a bad job, and one Bo Ping, a stitcher 
 in leather, certainly did his best in the matter. 
 
 Then an equal preparation was required for the 
 wardrobes of Usoof and Abu, the two followers 
 selected to accompany X. upon his travels. This 
 entailed many visits from the local tailors, who 
 spent long hours in the back premises, accom- 
 panied by all their friends and relations — for in 
 Pura Pura, as amongst many other Eastern 
 peoples, for one person at work there are always 
 ten looking on. Thus the interest in these pro- 
 ceedings was not centred upon X. — to some he 
 played quite a secondary part in the matter, being 
 merely an incident connected with the departure 
 of Usoof, who was going to Java, which was his 
 birthplace — as all the world knew — but which he 
 had left years ago, when little more than a baby 
 in arms. Usoof was going home to find his 
 relations and tell them all about himself, and 
 " Tuan " * X. happened to be going too. This 
 being a fact widely reported and discussed nightly 
 far into the small hours of the morning, while 
 friends ate light refreshments of bread and sugar 
 with pink-coloured syrups to wash them down, it 
 '•' Malay equivalent for Mister = Sahib. 
 
THE START. 
 
 is not to be wondered at that X. began at last to 
 feel that it was settled he was going principally to 
 search for Usoof's mother, who was possibly 
 living in a village somewhere in Java, her name 
 unknown ; indeed, her still being in the land of 
 the living was a matter of conjecture. This quest, 
 however, which obtained additional interest from 
 the little that was knowable of its object, is 
 alluded to here, so that when it is subsequently 
 related how it led X. from the beaten track of 
 tourists, there may be no surprise, since it can be 
 understood that it would have been impossible for 
 him to return to Pura Pura without some attempt 
 to perform that which was expected of him. 
 
 In due time arrived the document permitting X. 
 to leave Pura Pura, and the day of departure was 
 fixed. Usoof and Abu had already gone on ahead 
 in a bullock cart with the luggage, and X. was to 
 leave next morning. Several of " The Com- 
 munity " kindly came to see the start and sat calm 
 and superior over their long " stengahs," while 
 the intending traveller endeavoured to compress 
 into a quarter of an hour the final instructions for 
 the regulation of affairs in his absence. However, 
 after writing various little memos and giving many 
 injunctions to the syces and tenants generally, 
 concerning the care of the horses, sheep, geese, 
 dogs, bears, tame storks, porcupines, and other 
 live stock which belonged to the household, the 
 traveller mounted into his sulky, with that sinking 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 in the region of his heart which comes to all those 
 temporarily about to leave Pura Pura's secluded 
 calm. And thus he drove forth into the great 
 populous world beyond. The first glimpse of it 
 was distant twenty-four miles, and reached after 
 a drive through some of the most beautiful jungle 
 scenery imaginable. This oasis of civilization was 
 the capital of the State at whose port it was 
 necessary to embark. Here X. remained for the 
 night, accepting hospitality from the kind doctor 
 who had looked upon his complaint and so 
 scientifically localised and named it. To one 
 fresh from the jungle, this evening appeared full 
 of novelty and life, from the fact of there being 
 10 strange faces present. One of the party was a 
 French Roman Catholic priest, known to all in 
 the various States as a man of practical good 
 works and a congenial companion. And there 
 was also a gentleman of title — a visitor fresh from 
 England — who should have been called a globe- 
 trotter had he not, in the course of the meal, 
 thanked Providence that he had come across 
 none of that genus in those localities. This 
 gentleman, who rejoiced at the absence of globe- 
 trotters, was bound for such a variety of places in 
 such a short space of time that X. could only 
 regard him with bewilderment and envy. For 
 while he had only undertaken his journey 
 after the mature consideration of a month, during 
 which time the correspondence concerning leave 
 
THE START. 
 
 and medical certificates had assumed proportions 
 of official magnitude, this traveller carried with 
 him all the documents connected with his plans 
 in the form of a piece of paper on which was 
 written exactly where he must sleep, lunch, and 
 dine during the ensuing fortnight. It would be 
 interesting to know if this visitor actually accom- 
 plished his task and saw all that he proposed in 
 the time allowed. Perhaps, when he gets home, 
 his community — the other titled people — ^will put 
 pressure on him to write a book, and satisfy our 
 legitimate curiosity. 
 
 On the following morning X. boarded the train 
 on the railroad which connects the capital with 
 the sea. He found himself an object of interest H 
 to the dwellers in those distant parts, not only as 
 the fleshly embodiment of the personality hitherto 
 known as initials at the bottom of official minutes, 
 but as the champion who had not long since 
 descended from his mountain for the purpose of 
 engaging the railway in litigation, in consequence 
 of his garments having suffered from sparks on 
 the occasion of his last venture in the train. 
 
 This case had excited considerable interest, 
 and X. had made a triumphant exit, as he drove 
 away from the court with portions of charred 
 wardrobe packed in behind. During the present 
 journey there were no sparks, and the coast was 
 reached without any incident which might 
 promise litigation. The party consisting of X., 
 
12 
 
 FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 Usoof and Abu, embarked on the s.s. Malacca, a 
 fairly comfortable steamship with a kindly 
 captain. The sniff of the sea was delightful to 
 the jungle-wallah, and, freed from official chains, 
 he reclined in a long chair feeling that all his 
 plans and preparations had at least a present 
 good result. The only incident of the voyage 
 that remains in his memory is the fact that a 
 Chinese passenger sitting opposite at dinner 
 drank a bottle of whisky and a bottle of claret 
 mixed, and appeared to suffer no subsequent 
 inconvenience. In the evening the ship lay off 
 Malacca. There are few more suggestive views 
 than this one of twinkling lights, here and there 
 disclosing momentary peeps of that picturesque 
 old town, peeps that conjure forth visions of half 
 forgotten stories of that place of many memories, 
 told, in the jungle by the flicker of the camp fire, 
 by Malays, adepts at relating tales handed down 
 by their fathers. 
 
 Then the cool evening of a tropical climate, the 
 sea glinting in silver moonlit streaks around the 
 ship, which throwing a huge shadow on the water 
 lies silently swinging to her anchor before the 
 peering little red stars of that solitary old-world 
 city. Scenes such as these are some compensa- 
 tion to many a home-sick exile. 
 
 Ah, well, — we must not get sentimental and 
 out of tune, though the snores of the whisky- 
 claret Chinaman are particularly discordant. 
 
THE START. 
 
 However he passed — as happily passengers do — 
 and so did the night and the early dawn as the 
 s.s. Malacca approached the beautiful island of 
 Singapore (does everyone know it is an island ?) 
 Ask you another ! Well, can my readers say 
 straight off what constitutes the Straits Settle- 
 ments, and which are islands ? but never mind — 
 skip this and hurry on over the bracket, if an 
 answer were really wanted the bracket would not 
 be there. 
 
 13 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 SINGAPORE. 
 
 I SEE that X. has it in his notes that the first 
 view of this city is the most beautiful in the 
 East — does he mean the approach, the view, or 
 ^^ the city. It perhaps does not greatly matter, 
 but it is certain that he recorded the fact that to 
 a poor jungle- wallah like himself it seemed very 
 vast and full of life, as he dressed himself and 
 prepared to re-enter the world from which he had 
 so long been absent. A gharry — a close carriage 
 on four wheels with a dirty-looking driver and a 
 tiny pony — now conveyed, or rather set forth to 
 convey, the traveller to the hospitable house of 
 a certain distinguished general who resides in 
 Singapore. 
 
 Singapore is a city in which it is notoriously 
 difficult to find one's way about, as all the roads 
 seem alike — they are all excellent — and so do the 
 houses. Had I not undertaken to tell you how 
 X. went to Java, I should like to stop and relate 
 
SINGAPORE. 
 
 how once on this account the writer dined at the 
 wrong house — and dined well — while his host, 
 whose name he never knew, preserved an 
 exquisite sang-froid and never showed surprise ; 
 but such egotistic digressions might possibly 
 annoy X. who has a right to claim the first place 
 in this little history. 
 
 The driver apparently knew where no one as an 
 individual lived, and entirely relied on strange 
 local descriptions known only to the native 
 inhabitants, therefore it was vain for X. to try 
 and explain where he wanted to go. It transpired 
 from interrogations of passers by that no gharry 
 driver or Malay policeman had heard of the 
 General or even that such a personage existed — 15 
 X. never told the General that — and thus the 
 gharry containing X., and the two which followed 
 with the suite and luggage, drove backwards and 
 forwards puzzling people as they went, for such 
 twistings and turnings argued ignorance of 
 locality, and ignorance of locality meant a globe- 
 trotter, and yet no mail steamer was in, and, 
 again, no globe trotter would be followed by two 
 Malays. And presently he again endeavoured 
 to explain where he wanted to go in forcible 
 Malay — this made the problem more difficult — 
 till the passers by, mostly cooks going to market, 
 gave it up as one too deep, or perhaps too 
 trivial, for solution. The morning drive thus 
 lasted till Europeans early for office appeared 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 in their smart buggies and fast trotting horses, 
 and one of these magnates of commerce coming 
 to the rescue, it was explained to the gharry 
 syce that the Commander of all the Forces 
 occupied a house where Mr. So-and-so used to 
 live, after the celebrated Mr. So-and-so had sold 
 off his racing stud and given up the house — 
 "didn't the driver remember?" "Yes, was 
 not Omad the chief syce " to the gentleman 
 alluded to ? At this the driver exclaimed, " of 
 course," and whipping up his pony, with a 
 withering look at his face, which implied " if 
 only he had had the sense to tell me that before," 
 he drove direct to one of the largest and most 
 16 imposing mansions of the town. 
 
 Saved from the hotels of Singapore, where 
 bewildered travellers grumble and strange- 
 looking jungle-wallahs come down to drink, X. 
 felt all the half-dormant memories of civilization 
 return to him, as, passing the sentry, he entered 
 the spacious hall and received a kindly welcome 
 from his host. 
 
 Having, as the books say, removed the traces 
 of his journey, no very palpable ones in this case, 
 since washing is practicable and customary on 
 board s.s. Malacca, X. joined his host at breakfast 
 and was informed of the programme of the day — 
 consisting of an afternoon drive, dining out in the 
 evening, and thence to hear the regimental band 
 play by moonlight in the gardens. What a gay 
 
SINGAPORE, 
 
 place Singapore seemed to X., who nightly dined 
 alone, and to whom the sound of a band was a 
 memory of bygone days — and a band by moon- 
 light too. Yes, that also had memories all its 
 own. On moonlight nights he is wont to sit 
 on the verandah and listen to the drowsy 
 monotonous singing of the Malays who dwell 
 in the villages below his hill. Very agreeable is 
 that chanting sound as it ascends, telling of 
 companionship and content, although for that 
 very reason making the solitary European feel 
 more solitary still. Native servants have given 
 him his dinner and left him to seek their own 
 amusement. He is a duty only, something 
 finished with and put away for the night, left 17 
 solitary upon the broad verandah, half envying 
 the natives who can enjoy the moonlight in the 
 society of their friends. 
 
 Here in Singapore X. need envy no one, for 
 was he not to go out after dinner and hear a band 
 in the moonlight, and a band played by Euro- 
 peans? The reality equalled expectation, for 
 moonlight in the beautiful gardens of Singapore, 
 with the elite of society sitting in their carriages 
 or strolling along the grass by the lake would have 
 been a pleasant evening even to people more blase 
 than X., nor did that person enjoy it any the less 
 from catching sight of Usoof and Abu standing as 
 lonely amongst this mass of strangers as ever he 
 was wont to feel when brooding in his solitude at 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 home, while they sang songs in the moonlight to 
 their friends. 
 
 The evening ended up with the glorious dissi- 
 pation of supper at the regimental mess. The 
 immediate result of this outing was pleasure, the 
 subsequent one — probably the addition of another 
 syllable to the compound Greek word with which 
 X.'s ailments had been identified. 
 
 18 
 
ON THE WAY TO JAVA. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ON THE WAY TO JAVA. 
 
 On the following day, remembering what was 
 expected of him, X. hired a gharry and proceeded 
 to discharge all such obligations as etiquette 
 demanded from one in his peculiar official 
 position. The first and foremost of these was to ^ 
 inscribe his name in a book in the ante-room of 
 the office of the Colonial Secretary. The names 
 in this book would make interesting reading, and, 
 thought X., probably become a source of wealth 
 could one take it into the smoking-room of a 
 London club and lay ten to one that no three 
 people present could locate the places named 
 upon a map. Perak* — or as they would call it in 
 the smoking-room. Pea rack — Selangor, Pahang 
 — called at home Pahhang — Jelebu, Sungei 
 Ujong— also Londonized into Sonjeyajang — and 
 many others of unaccustomed sound. 
 
 Official routine over (this should be semi-official 
 routine, suggests X., who fears that he may be 
 * Pronounced Perah. 
 
FROM JUNQLE TO JAVA. 
 
 held responsible for any error of the writer, which 
 may lead it to be supposed that he is arrogating 
 to himself any real Colonial Office rank) — however, 
 it is difficult to be so observant of nice distinc- 
 tions — X. next paid a visit to Messrs. John Little 
 and Co. Every one who has been to Singapore 
 has been to John Little's, for it is better known to 
 the dwellers in that city than even Whitely to Lon- 
 doners. Whitely has rivals, John Little has none. 
 From this famous provider of necessaries and 
 superfluities to the hospitable club is but a step, 
 and there the traveller Junched. This club is the 
 meeting-place of all the prominent merchants in 
 Singapore. The building is a fine one, with a 
 20 verandah overlooking the sea, and the members 
 always cordially welcome strangers and neigh- 
 bours from the adjoining peninsula. Having said 
 this much I feel compelled to risk incurring the 
 displeasure of X., who will be credited with 
 having told me, and add that the company is 
 better than the cooking. The quality of the 
 fluids and the quantity are without reproach, but 
 the food ! — that is one of the things they manage 
 better in the jungle. 
 
 In the afternoon the General was again as good 
 as his word, and took his guest for a drive, 
 showing to his wondering eyes all the beauties of 
 the new water-works. The China mail had that 
 morning come in, and this favourite resort was 
 dotted over with evident passengers, some of 
 
ON THE WAY TO JAVA. 
 
 them globe-trotters. What would the titled 
 traveller have said had his hurried steps taken 
 him that way ? In the evening His Excellency 
 gave a dinner party to twenty guests culled from 
 the most select circles in Singapore. To sit at 
 table with so many Europeans would at any time 
 have been a new sensation to X., but to suddenly 
 find himself one of such a distinguished company 
 was almost alarming in its novelty. However, 
 being happily situated by the side of Beauty, the 
 situation expanded generally, and had any mem- 
 ber of The Community been watching, he might 
 have thought that X. was proving false to the 
 creed that there was no place like Pura Pura for 
 a man to dwell in. 21 
 
 That which to the other diners was a matter of 
 every day, to him was both a present pleasure and 
 a glimpse of the past. 
 
 It was, of course, quite hopeless to attempt to 
 explain to anyone whence he came, or where he 
 lived, for the very name of Pura Pura was 
 unknown to them, and so it was necessary to 
 pose as a passenger passing through en route to 
 Java. 
 
 Some amongst the company had been to Java 
 (including the host), and all spoke in high terms 
 of the civility to be found there. 
 
 In the morning the traveller took leave of his 
 kind host, who left first at 5.30 a.m. for some 
 early little game of war, a description of which 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 would probably have been as vague to a civilian 
 as would the geographical position of Pura Pura, 
 or the exact official status of X., to members of 
 the company of the previous evening. The great 
 soldier having driven off in full uniform through 
 a throng of salaaming menials of various 
 nationalities, X. entered his humble gharry, and, 
 followed by Usoof and Abu, drove to the 
 Messagerie wharf. The steamer for Batavia was 
 the s.s. Godavery, which was in connection with 
 the mails for home. The cost of the passage is, 
 perhaps, for the actual distance travelled, the 
 most expensive in the world. The time taken by 
 the voyage is thirty-six hours. 
 
 22 
 
BATAVIA. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 BATAVIA. 
 
 The voyage on board the Godavery resembled 
 similar ones, with the notable difference that the 
 excellent cuisine made X. wish that the time to be 
 spent in transit were longer. The only people who 
 were not contented were Usoof and Abu, for each 23 
 of whom their employer was paying the sum of three 
 dollars a night. These particular Mahomedans 
 refused to touch the food shovelled out to them, 
 and to crowds of natives of all colour and class — by 
 the rough and ready Chinese servants, and towards 
 the end of the second day, having eaten nothing, 
 they presented a very woebegone and miserable 
 appearance. However, a few more judiciously 
 placed dollars produced them a square meal of 
 bread and tea, after which they smiled. 
 
 There is perhaps no sensation so agreeable as 
 the arrival in a strange port. Thoughts and con- 
 jectures as to the possibilities that lie beyond the 
 landing place are innumerable, and fancy and 
 anticipation are equally strong. When the 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 Godavery steamed into Batavia it was still dark 
 and the rain was coming down in torrents. It all 
 looked miserable enough, but, once alongside the 
 wharf, daylight began to appear and the pas- 
 sengers trooped ashore. The station was more 
 than a quarter of a mile from the place of landing, 
 and this distance the poor people had to hurry 
 along in the rain. 
 
 The unfortunate natives — carrying bundles con- 
 taining their belongings — were drenched to the 
 skin. Also the European passengers — less objects 
 of pity, as only the portion of their wardrobe 
 actually worn was exposed to the rain — came in 
 for a considerable share of the moisture of that 
 24 wet arrival. It is true there was a magnificent 
 covered way, but this was hopelessly blocked up 
 with trucks and other railway gear, which were, 
 presumably, more susceptible to cold than the 
 passengers. The luggage was quickly and cour- 
 teously passed by the Custom House officials, and 
 the travellers entered a luxuriously fitted train — 
 apparently a show train, as X. never met another 
 like it in Java. 
 
 Arrival in Batavia town created a good first 
 impression, as there were no pestering crowds, as 
 there are in Singapore, and there were many 
 carriages waiting for hire, all two-horsed and good. 
 
 The drive to the hotel was a long one, through 
 the business portions of the town, till the resi- 
 dential side was reached. Here detached houses 
 
BATAVIA. 
 
 are situated alongside the principal road, on the 
 other side of which flows a canal, giving to the 
 place an appropriate Dutch appearance. 
 
 The hotel was a most imposing building out- 
 side, with apparently countless rooms, but the 
 thing which immediately struck X. as something 
 uncommon was the fact that the floors of the 
 apartments were level with the ground and not 
 raised as is the case in Singapore and the Penin- 
 sula, and he felt feverish as he noticed it. The 
 traveller was allotted a fair sized room opening on 
 to a court yard, with other rooms and other open- 
 ings to the right and to the left, and in fact all 
 round him, and in front of these rooms sat people 
 in every stage of deshabille. There seemed to be 25 
 no privacy and what, perhaps, under the circum- 
 stances was fortunate, — no shyness. X. however 
 had not yet reached that point of his observations, 
 and, entering his room, he shut the door and 
 ordered his first meal in Java. This turned out 
 to be a terrible repast, consisting of a plate of cold 
 clammy selections from the interior of some edible 
 beast, two cold hard-boiled eggs, three small cold 
 fish roasted in cocoanut oil, and something in- 
 tended to resemble ham and eggs. This first 
 meal is mentioned in detail as it was but a fore- 
 taste of an equally trying series. X. thought of 
 Dagonet and that power of description which, 
 when relating dyspeptic woes, will compel the 
 sympathy of the hardiest feeder. 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 It did not take long to skim hastily over the 
 surface of these uninviting viands, and now X. 
 turned his attention to the notices which stared 
 at him from every wall. These in many languages 
 threatened all travellers with penalties if, imme- 
 diately after their arrival, they neglected to obtain 
 permission to reside in Netherlands India. After 
 reading this, X. lost no time in sending for a con- 
 veyance to drive to the British Consulate. The 
 gentleman who received him there was extremely 
 civil and gave him all the information in his 
 power. It appeared that if the traveller was 
 anxious for facts about Java, the officials of that 
 country were equally so in requiring the same from 
 26 him, and he was obliged to fill in a printed form 
 stating his age, birthplace, residence and occupa- 
 tion, etc., and, when this was done, pay one guilder 
 and a half for his trouble. The next step was to 
 go to the Bank, and nothing could exceed the 
 kindness with which he was received at this place, 
 and the thoughtful manager assisted the stranger 
 to decide where he had better go in order to best 
 see something of the country, and what was most 
 to the point, wrote for him the names of places 
 and hotels which seem outlandish and terrible on 
 first meeting with them. X. learnt to his dismay 
 that the system of obtaining money by cheque was 
 almost unknown, and it would always be necessary 
 to carry money and, when more was wanted, re- 
 ceive it by registered letter through the post. The 
 
BATAVIA. 
 
 idea of carrying ready money to a person who had 
 for years followed the customs of the East and 
 depended on cheques and " chits," seemed a new 
 trouble for which he had not been prepared. On 
 the drive back to the hotel through streets sloppy 
 with mud, the first new impression made upon the 
 traveller was caused by the number of natives 
 selling vegetables — good wholesome English look- 
 ing specimens, especially carrots. This was a 
 refreshing sight after years of seeing no familiar 
 vegetables, except those which passed long periods 
 of imprisonment in tins. 
 
 All along the route natives of either sex were 
 bathing in the filthy water of the canal without 
 even a suspicion of that modesty which charac- 27 
 terises the Malays. Impression No. 2 was noted 
 to the effect that none of the natives wore boots 
 or shoes, and all plashed barefooted through the 
 mud. He had already had his attention called to 
 this absence of shoes when coming up in the train 
 by the notice (not to say the excitement) attracted 
 by the neatly-booted feet of his followers. Could 
 it be possible that they would also be obliged to 
 go barefooted through the muddy streets ? And 
 still worse thought — would it fall to his lot to 
 break it to them ? The natives all appeared larger 
 and more strongly built than the Malays of the 
 Peninsula, but, as in Singapore, they were a 
 hybrid lot, and there were also to be seen a 
 variety of other nationalities — Malay nationalities 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 — but, strange to say, no Arabs, and, more 
 remarkable still, no Chinamen, To those readers 
 who may not have visited that part of the world 
 of which I write, it should be explained that 
 Singapore is almost entirely populated by 
 Chinese, and in the native states they materially 
 outnumber the Malays, so that the eye is accus- 
 tomed to see Chinese everywhere and regard 
 them as the real inhabitants of the country. 
 Their absence in a Malay town strikes anyone 
 coming from the Peninsula as strange. Of 
 course there are Chinese in Batavia, and many of 
 them, as X. soon learnt, but they do not pervade 
 the whole place as is the case in the English 
 28 colonies over the way. 
 
 Reaching the hotel X. was relieved to find that 
 Usoof and Abu had discarded their boots, and 
 were picking their way delicately across the mud 
 of the courtyard. Also they had been provided 
 with an excellent curry. Then he prepared to 
 get ready for his own lunch, and next to bathe. 
 In order to do this it was necessary to run the 
 gauntlet of many eyes, as the bathroom was some 
 distance off, and, to reach it, the entire length of 
 the verandah must be passed. On to this 
 verandah opened the doors of bedrooms, the 
 occupant of each sitting in his long chair in 
 front — exactly, as Abu remarked, like vendors 
 holding stalls in a market. The long chairs were 
 of the luxurious kind, with short seats and long 
 
BAT A VI A. 
 
 movable arms, and on which latter the occupants 
 extended their naked feet. This of course refers 
 to the men. Ladies also sat there, in what X. 
 subsequently learnt was not altogether considered 
 deshabille, namely, the sarong and kabaya of the 
 country. The first-named garment, it may be 
 explained for the benefit of readers in the West, 
 is a close-fitting petticoat such as the natives 
 wear, and the latter a white linen jacket. It 
 required some courage to take that first walk 
 along this verandah, but things seldom continue 
 to seem strange, unless other people look as if 
 they thought them so, and as these reclining rows 
 of visitors lay back doing nothing, not even read- 
 ing, with an air of unconcern, it was not difficult 29 
 for X. to assume one too. However, he could not 
 but believe that he helped to fill in that vacant 
 blank in which the sitters sank, as he passed 
 along, himself clad in wondrous garments made 
 of gaudy silks woven by the skilled natives of the 
 Peninsula, while Usoof and Abu followed, bringing 
 the towels and soap. Nor did he entirely deceive 
 himself, since he was subsequently informed by 
 Usoof that the " boy " of a Nyonia, or what in 
 Singapore is called a " mem," told him that his 
 lady had instructed him to discover whether X. 
 had many more of those silk sarongs for sale. 
 
 Lunch was perhaps the first real revelation of 
 life in Java, since it introduced the traveller to 
 that which a majority of the people seem to live 
 
FROM JUNQLE TO JAVA. 
 
 for (and always sleep after) — the rice-table. This 
 rice-table has been so often described that it need 
 not be done in detail here ; but the basis, as it 
 were, of this rice-table is, as may be supposed, 
 rice, and with this foundation in your plate, 
 innumerable dishes of eggs, fish, meat, etc., are 
 offered by a string of attendants, who expect you 
 to put some of each on the top of it. Probably 
 this is only a literal and exaggerated interpreta- 
 tion of a Malay curry, which is incomplete 
 without the countless little relishes which should 
 accompany it. This particular dish, or rather 
 function, is seen in its fullest development in the 
 up-country places, visited later, and the one in 
 30 Batavia was scarcely a fair sample, as though X. 
 was unaware of this at the time, its proportions 
 had evidently been toned down and diminished 
 out of deference to the cosmopolitan character of 
 the guests, who, probably like our traveller, had 
 on former occasions given their ignorance away 
 by asking for more plates and taking each dish 
 seriously, as though it were a separate course, sent 
 up before its time, at the risk of getting cold. To 
 a person accustomed to Singapore there was 
 something novel and cheering about the first 
 meal in the vast dining-hall of this hotel. The 
 floor was of marble — scrupulously clean — and the 
 Javanese waiters were dressed in a uniform of 
 white trimmed with red, presenting a pleasing 
 contrast to the slipshod dirty " boy " of an 
 
BATAVIA. 
 
 ordinary hotel, whose habit it is to clatter round 
 flapping your face and brushing your food with 
 his long, unclean, hanging sleeves. Though in 
 the native states from whence X. came it is no 
 uncommon thing to see Malays wait at table, yet 
 in Singapore, with the exception of Indian ser- 
 vants, it is very seldom that there are any 
 attendants but Chinese. 
 
 Perhaps the most striking feature of the meal 
 was the absence of bread. This could be pro- 
 cured, when asked for, but was not provided, as 
 it is elsewhere, as a matter of course, and was 
 regarded as an extra. An excellent arrangement 
 of this marble hall was that it was permitted to 
 smoke immediately after lunch. As, availing 31 
 himself of this, X. smoked his cigarette and 
 meditated contentedly, he noted all the various 
 details which might interest The Community at 
 home. One rather prominent detail was a lady 
 at a neighbouring table dressed only in a sarong 
 and kabaya, with her extremities bare. The 
 lower portion of these were thrust into some loose 
 sandal slippers, the upper turned back as far under 
 the chair as the stretch of the sarong would allow. 
 It was not a costume which, from X.'s point of 
 view, appeared elegant, though, like most articles 
 of apparel worn by beauty, capable of becoming 
 elegant if elegantly worn ; still in the present 
 instance more natural elegance would be required 
 in proportion to that of the costume, there being 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 so little of the latter. Returning to the publicity 
 of his apartment, X. was met by Usoof and Abu, 
 both with very long faces and evidently in con- 
 siderable distress. On being interrogated it 
 transpired that they had nowhere to bathe. Now 
 to bathe, and bathe constantly, is as necessary to 
 a Malay as are regular meals to a European. X., 
 being sadly aware that he would be held responsi- 
 ble for everything that went wrong or did not fit 
 in with the exact views of these children of nature, 
 thought it best to be brave at the commencement 
 of things and affect an indifference which he was 
 far from really feeling, and, therefore, with a jerk 
 of his head towards the canal, replied that that 
 32 was where people bathed. " Yes, perhaps />go/'/^," 
 said Abu, with meaning, and then for fear X. 
 should not be sufficiently intelligent to catch 
 the tone, added " people who don't mind filth or 
 water like that in a drain." This seemed to need 
 no answer, and as Usoof had reserved his remarks 
 X. knew that worse was to come, and he would be 
 more prudent to wait and reply on the whole 
 question, instead of being drawn into argument 
 as though he were actually to blame for this 
 terrible state of affairs. But as Usoof still kept 
 silence X. rashly thought he had gained an easy 
 victory, and airily added, '* All right, you must 
 make the best of it and go to the canal." Then 
 the reserved remarks found vent, " Was the 
 Tuan aware that all the women in the place 
 
BATAVIA. 
 
 bathed there ? " " Yes," this had to be admitted, 
 since the Tuan himself had noticed it, and, as has 
 been recorded above, not without some comments 
 of his own. " Then how can I bathe there at the 
 same time ? " continued Usoof, " I should be 
 ashamed." " Well, if they are not you need not 
 be," rather frivolously replied his master, as he 
 sought escape from further conversation by 
 burrowing in a box full of books. It may as 
 well be recorded here that the couple never did 
 bathe in that canal, and eventually drove some 
 miles into the country, where they performed 
 their modest ablutions by a village well. They 
 also refused to permit any clothes to be sent to 
 the wash in Batavia, and they were not far wrong, 33 
 since the water of the canal was equally unfitted 
 for washing either clothes or the human body it 
 was their office to adorn. 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 AN OFFICIAL CALL. 
 
 After luncheon X. took a drive. All the most 
 noteworthy features of Batavia are duly set forth 
 in guide books, and it is therefore only advisable 
 to mention those few points of difference from 
 34 an English colonial town which seemed to the 
 traveller worthy pf note. The principal one was 
 that all the residents' houses were built along the 
 side of the high road ; there were no secluded 
 mansions standing in their own grounds as in 
 Singapore. All the houses were obtrusively 
 en evidence, so much so, that people, socially 
 inclined, take their evening drive and note 
 at a glance, by the lights displayed, who is 
 at home and ready to receive. Those not 
 prepared to entertain sit in semi-darkness. The 
 houses seemed as devoid of privacy as were the 
 verandahs of the hotels. Planted on each side 
 of the road were huge towering trees testifying 
 by their presence that the town was not of mush- 
 room growth. No Europeans were met ; this was 
 
AN OFFICIAL CALL. 
 
 understood later when it was explained that at 
 this hour of the day they were all asleep. At first 
 it seemed that there were no shops, but closer 
 observation discovered them under the same roof 
 as some of the private dwellings, standing detached 
 away from the road. The English Church wore 
 a deserted aspect, closed and uncared for. Possibly 
 the driver libelled the community when he 
 informed the traveller that it was never used. 
 The ordinary carriage is a dos-a-dos, a most 
 uncomfortable conveyance like an Irish car turned 
 end on, but excellent carriages are provided by 
 the hotels. 
 
 Later our traveller proposed to call upon the 
 Resident — the chief authority in the place — and 35 
 present his letters of introduction. He had been 
 told that he must not call before 7.30 in the 
 evening, and also that he must wear dress clothes. 
 It seemed an outrageous thing to do, to put 
 on dress clothes in broad daylight in an hotel and 
 to go out about dinner time to call, and when he 
 summoned Usoof to assist him, that grave-faced 
 individual did so with a kind of [silent pity for 
 his master compelled to do unaccountable things 
 in a land of strangers. 
 
 However, when X. had arrayed himself, as 
 though he were dining out, his heart failed him. 
 He felt it was impossible to go to the house of a 
 stranger like this just at the hour for dinner 
 without appearing as though he hoped he would 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 be asked to stay for that meal. And so he 
 shamefacedly untied his white tie and asked 
 Usoof to provide him with a morning coat. This 
 apprehension might have been spared, however; 
 the call was never actually paid, for, in the drive 
 that led up to the house of the Resident, he met a 
 carriage coming out containing a gentleman and 
 three ladies. This turned out to be the Resident 
 with his wife and daughters. It was an agreeable 
 surprise to find that the carriage stopped, and the 
 traveller had the somewhat difficult task of intro- 
 ducing himself and explaining his appearance in 
 the dark. The Resident, who spoke excellent 
 English, was most cordial and kind. He regretted 
 36 that he was not at home to receive the intended 
 visit, but he was obliged to attend a reception 
 given in honour of the General, the hero of the 
 Lomboh War. Then the great official expressed 
 a hope that X. had secured his permit, and told 
 him that he must renew it when he reached 
 Buitensug, which was the limit of his jurisdiction. 
 X. noticed that the Resident was not in dress 
 clothes and mentally congratulated himself that 
 he wore none either, or most certainly as the 
 carriage drove away he would have looked like a 
 person disappointed of a dinner. 
 
 The hotel was most gorgeously illuminated 
 with electric light, and the marble dining hall 
 was extravagantly lurid. Had X. consulted his 
 convenience he would certainly have worn his black 
 
AN OFFICIAL CALL. 
 
 sun spectacles, but actually feared to alarm his 
 followers by exhibiting any further tendency to 
 eccentricity on their first day in a strange country, 
 and so he resigned himself to blink owlishly 
 throughout the meal. The absence of a punkah, 
 a necessity to which he was accustomed, was also 
 a trial. However, there was little fear of getting 
 hot by over indulgence at the table, as the chilly 
 cocoanut-oily viands were excellent checks to any 
 imprudent display of appetite. Towards the end 
 of the repast the proprietor of the hotel informed 
 X. that the Resident of Batavia wished to speak to 
 him through the telephone. If there is one place 
 where he exhibits himself in an unfavourable light 
 it is in front of that horrible, muttering, jibbering 37 
 instrument, when, after the introductory " Who's 
 there ? " and information as to who you are 
 repeated ad nauseam, there rumble to your ear 
 the most exasperating sounds, so full of meaning 
 and yet conveying nothing, until it seems as 
 though the person at the other end were mocking 
 you, and the tone of his voice gets so irritating 
 that you long to throw down the tubes and make 
 a rush at him. However, on this occasion X. 
 wisely left the whole matter in the hands of the 
 proprietor, who presently informed him that the 
 Resident invited him to an open air concert given 
 at the Concordia Club in honour of the General, 
 then the man of the hour, and, if he would care to 
 come, an English friend would presently call for 
 
38 
 
 FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 him at the hotel. The only possible answer to 
 such a welcome invitation was duly transmitted. 
 
 X. has, according to his own account, all his 
 life been a most fortunate individual. Wherever 
 he went he has always, as the phrase has it, 
 "fallen on his feet." On this expedition his luck 
 did not desert him, and on the appearance of his 
 fellow countryman which took place (to be exact 
 in speaking of an event now historical) at 9 p.m., 
 there commenced a new departure which forged a 
 first link in the chain of events which was to 
 happily land him in the most beautiful country 
 that he had ever yet beheld. X. has always 
 thought of telephones more kindly since. 
 
A CONCERT AT THE CONCORDIA CLUB. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A CONCERT AT THE CONCORDIA CLUB. 
 
 The traveller was naturally much impressed with 
 the scene at the Concordia Club. In the beauti- 
 ful gardens, which were gorgeously illuminated, 
 people were walking about and sitting down as 
 though it were an English summer night. But, 39 
 as in the East thoughts of health and diet always 
 occupy an extraordinarily prominent place in the 
 minds of all who have dwelt there for any length 
 of time, that which chiefly struck the stranger 
 was the apparently reckless indifference to fever 
 displayed by those flaneurs who dawdled about 
 under the trees on this treacherous soil, as though 
 it were the harmless green grass of Hurlingham 
 at home. And it almost relieved him to hear 
 presently from a lady, to whom he expressed this 
 astonishment, that the doctors declared this 
 season of open air concerts was certainly the 
 most busy time for colds and fever. The Resi- 
 dent and his party were seated at a round table 
 on the top of the flight of marble steps leading to 
 
FROM JUNQLE TO JAVA. 
 
 the Club. To each person of this group X. was 
 presented in turn, after which he had the honour 
 of a seat on the right hand of his host and thus 
 full opportunity to enjoy the novelty of the 
 surroundings and the excellent music of the band. 
 As the party gathered round the table included 
 some of the greatest names in the country, people 
 who were in a position to have an intimate know- 
 ledge of recent events, the conversation proved 
 interesting and instructive. Thus the English- 
 man heard the story of the Balineri war — that 
 terrible defeat and massacre of the Dutch troops 
 under the command of the general, who ulti- 
 mately retrieved the position, and to do honour 
 40 to whom all were assembled to-night. X. listened 
 as people spoke of the unparalleled treachery of 
 the natives, the sufferings of the troops, and the 
 assistance rendered to the enemy by the importa- 
 tion of arms by a European. And severe remarks 
 were made as to this latter incident, some present 
 insisting that the culprit was an Englishman 
 from Singapore. War was in the air — everyone 
 talked of the war, and such an impression did 
 the matter make upon X., who heard the conduct 
 of the campaign discussed wherever he went, 
 throughout his stay, that it may be of interest to 
 give in a separate chapter the story of what was 
 said about the recent war. 
 
 All those who joined the party on the terrace 
 spoke English, to the relief of X. — and as new 
 
A CONCERT AT THE CONCORDIA CLUB. 
 
 guests arrived to join the circle they were formally 
 introduced by name to each one among the 
 company in that precise manner which is the 
 fashion in America. And likewise when any 
 individual rose to leave he would bid good-night 
 to each separate member of the party. 
 
 When I undertook to compile this little 
 account of how X. went to Java, it had been my 
 intention to arrange what he saw and what he 
 heard in some order of sequence, but from the 
 nature of his manner of observation, I find this to 
 be impossible, and therefore must record each 
 impression he received and facts of interest which 
 he heard, just as they came to him, regardless of 
 apparent want of connection. As the chief object 41 
 of this sketch is to assist others intending to 
 spend a short holiday in that beautiful island 
 belonging to our neighbours, this little originality 
 may pass. 
 
 Thus on this occasion the traveller learnt that, 
 contrary to his former ideas on the matter, the 
 Civil Service was much underpaid, and that, 
 though it corresponds with our Indian Civil 
 Service in standard of examination, etc., the scale 
 of pay and of pensions falls far short of its proto- 
 type. And it may be mentioned here, as showing 
 what an important part naval officers are expected 
 to play in Dutch East India, that all midshipmen 
 have to pass in the Malay language. The 
 command of the squadron on the waters of 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 Netherlands India is the prize of the service, to 
 the holding of which the most distinguished naval 
 officers look forward. The Governor General of 
 the Dutch possessions in the East is known as 
 His Excellency during his term of office. The 
 admiral who commands there not only has the 
 same title during the years of his command, but is 
 entitled to retain it for the remainder of his life. 
 In the course of conversation the Resident kindly 
 informed X. that he must not be annoyed at being 
 obliged to obtain a permit to travel, since it had 
 been found necessary to insist that even his own 
 countrymen should do so, and he had recently 
 caused notices to be issued and posted in all the 
 42 steamers and hotels, so that there might be no 
 misunderstanding in the matter. After the 
 concert and the conclusion of a most agreeable 
 evening X. was introduced to the Harmonic Club, 
 where he had supper. 
 
 This, like the Concordia, is a magnificent 
 building with marble pillars and floors, more in 
 accordance with his early ideas of the gorgeous 
 East than anything which the traveller had seen. 
 The Harmonic Club was built during the time 
 when Java was an English possession — and his 
 informant, the Englishman, sighed. It was not 
 long before the new comer also sighed, when, 
 having seen the beauties of this glorious country, 
 he remembered that but for the blindness of some 
 former rulers, unmindful of the advice of those on 
 
A CONCERT AT THE CONCORDIA CLUB. 
 
 the spot who should know, another India might 
 have been held for England. But as the natural 
 beauty of the country was enhanced and made 
 complete by the sight of universal prosperity and 
 content, the sound of such a sigh from an English 
 visitor is the greatest compliment the present 
 proprietors could be paid. 
 
 The first day of X.'s stay in Java was now over 
 — a pleasant day enough, as he admitted to 
 himself, after a long seclusion in the jungle — the 
 place on which, after all, his last thoughts rested, 
 that negatively happy jungle and its kindly 
 inhabitants — -represented to his immediate view 
 by two inanimate bundles on the floor entrenched 
 behind a barricade of boxes in a corner of the 43 
 room. These were the faithful Usoof and Abu, 
 long since gone to rest — forgetful of all the 
 troubles of their first day in a new country. 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 CONCERNING THE LOMBOH WAR. 
 
 LoMBOH is an island to the east of Java. The 
 Raja of Lomboh did not come to Batavia at a 
 time when it was expected of him, and after some 
 correspondence the Resident of the nearest 
 44 district was sent to see him. After — in true 
 oriental fashion — promising to give him audience, 
 and then failing to do so — keeping the Resident 
 waiting a week — he finally sent a message refusing 
 to meet him. Then troops were sent. But their 
 departure was not effected without a commence- 
 ment of that bickering which marked the whole 
 subsequent course of events. The General in 
 command was junior to the Admiral over whom 
 he was put. A compromise was effected by a 
 second general being appointed. When the 
 expedition reached its destination the Balineri 
 showed great astonishment at this parade of force, 
 and affected to be at a total loss to understand 
 why they had come. 
 
 This unexpected turn of events finally ended in 
 
CONCERNING THE LOMBOH WAR . 
 
 a great "chumming up" which developed into 
 social functions and the taking of a photograph, in 
 which the Raja's generals and other chiefs of the 
 expedition were all taken in one large group. 
 This photograph was sent to Buitenzorg — the 
 seat of Government — as a proof of the unreality of 
 the scare, and the diplomatic ease with which 
 the expedition had been able to come, see and 
 conquer. 
 
 The photograph is not now to be purchased. 
 After the festivities and photography the Dutch 
 force camped by the Palace walls, and the general 
 in command reported officially that the matter 
 was settled. 
 
 On receipt of this welcome news the Governor 45 
 General was so delighted that he gave a 
 dinner party that same evening, and after the 
 meal was over stood on the billiard table and 
 made a little speech announcing the bloodless 
 success and happy termination of the affair 
 Lomboh. 
 
 The Palace where the troops had camped was 
 a kind of village — a collection of houses sur- 
 rounded by a huge wall. Each day the Dutch 
 held parades and drill outside the village, and tried 
 to astonish the natives with the wonders of their 
 Winchesters and field guns. At these the people 
 professed great astonishment, examining those 
 modern weapons with intense interest, and asking 
 questions innumerable as to their construction 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 and cost. The latter is almost invariably the 
 first question which occurs to a native mind. 
 
 The Balinese must be clever actors, since all 
 the while they possessed hundreds of Win- 
 chesters and many pieces of field ordnance 
 within those deceitful walls. They were deceit- 
 ful walls, for they were extensively loop-holed, 
 the apertures being cunningly stopped up with 
 mortar. One evening the crisis came. The 
 officers while playing whist — dressed in their 
 lounge clothes of sarong and their feet bare, were 
 attacked and shot down almost to a man. When 
 the poor fellows sought refuge under the walls, 
 hand grenades were fired to dislodge them. A 
 ^^ general panic and flight followed. Those 
 fugitives who had managed to effect an orderly 
 retreat, took refuge in a temple about half way 
 between their camp and that of another detach- 
 ment. It was only then that they realized to the 
 full extent the nature of the terrible disaster, for 
 here they met a poor remnant of that other 
 detachment fighting their way to them for help — 
 they also having been treacherously attacked. 
 
 But this was not all, no warning had yet been 
 sent to a third detachment which had been left 
 on the coast. This column, ignorant of any 
 disaster, marched in to the recent camp and had 
 scarcely time to wheel round before the guns in 
 the loopholes opened fire, almost annihilating 
 them, a few only escaping back to the boats. 
 
CONCERNING THE LOMBOH WAR. 
 
 How deeply affected were the Dutch and their 
 friends, the whole civilized world, at the arrival 
 of this terrible news, is matter of history, and for 
 a time something like consternation reigned in 
 Buiten2org and Batavia. 
 
 After telegraphic communication with Europe, 
 and the fortunate mislaying of a certain message 
 deprecating any prompt action, the Governor 
 General took a popular step in deciding to send 
 every available man to the seat of war, and to 
 render all possible assistance. 
 
 This was done, and the Dutch forces subse- 
 quently retrieved their fortunes, in some measure 
 avenging the death of their comrades. But it 
 was at no small sacrifice, since Java — the 47 
 Government of which place much reliance on 
 military display — was almost destitute of troops. 
 As an illustration of this it is related that during 
 this war the Sultan of Deli elected to pay a visit 
 to Batavia. As only two battalions of troops 
 were left it was considered impolitic that he 
 should know it, therefore the men were marched 
 past him first when he was dining in the 
 capital, and then despatched by train to repre- 
 sent other battalions, and march past him once 
 again on the occasion of his visit to Buitenzorg 
 the following day. 
 
 The description of the tears of the aged Sultan 
 of Lomboh at the destruction of his beautiful 
 palace, and the marvellous stories of how jewels 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 and millions of treasure were borne away by 
 the victorious General more resembled a page 
 for the "Arabian Nights" than a record of facts 
 in the present day. On the other hand, accounts 
 of the terrible hardships endured by the brave 
 Dutch soldiers sounded more modern, and were 
 only too easy of belief. 
 
 The seat of the war was only half a day from 
 the Javanese port of Soerabaya, and enough 
 money had been collected in Java and Holland to 
 pay the cost of the entire war, and yet it was so 
 mismanaged that officers had only rice to eat, 
 and nightly camped out on the ground without 
 shelter in that fever-giving climate. 
 
 48 
 
BUITENZORQ. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 BUITENZORG. 
 
 On the afternoon of the day of his arrival, a 
 Sunday, having declined a kind invitation to a 
 party for the theatre, X. decided to leave for 
 Buitenzorg. He thought he sniffed fever mingled 
 with the other very apparent odours in his room 49 
 on the ground floor, while Usoof and Abu not 
 only could not bathe but were unable to send 
 his clothes to the wash. The combination of 
 reasons and of smells was strong. 
 
 It may be mentioned here, it being about as 
 apropos in this place as it would be in any other, 
 that all functions in Java, from a reception of the 
 Governor General to a performance by a travelling 
 show, take place on a Sunday. > 
 
 The train left Batavia at 4.30 and X. reached 
 Buitenzorg at six. 
 
 So much that is misleading has been written 
 about Buitenzorg — the Washington of Java, that 
 X. was woefully deceived. It certainly is a 
 beautiful place — indeed exquisitely so, but a 
 
FROM JUNQLE TO JAVA. 
 
 traveller is scarcely satisfied with the beauties of 
 nature when he pays to mankind for creature 
 comforts which he fails to obtain. The most 
 agreeable feature of the journey to a stranger who 
 has, as it were, been Jong hemmed in by dense 
 jungles in the Peninsula, was certainly the long 
 stretches of open country reminding him of the 
 pasture lands and fields which fly past the train at 
 home. Cattle and ponies grazing complete the 
 illusion, and X. could scarcely refrain from 
 outspoken exclamations of delight. 
 
 It had been much impressed upon the traveller 
 that he must by all means obtain a room at the 
 Belle Vue Hotel, and if possible, one overlooking 
 50 the back which governs the famous view. This 
 was achieved by telegram. On arrival a carriage 
 with three ponies conveyed him to the hotel — a 
 poor building on a lovely site, which bristled with 
 possibilities. 
 
 The famous back terrace of rooms was at the 
 further side of the courtyard to the entrance, and, 
 once duly installed, X. was delighted with the 
 outlook. Just immediately below the window 
 was the railway line — below that rushed a large, 
 broad, shallow mountain river in which half the 
 native population seemed to be bathing. Beyond 
 these stretched an unbroken view of picturesque 
 villages, whose scattered red-roofed houses peeped 
 here and there from among the palms and other 
 graceful trees. Beyond again, the mountain — 
 
BUITENZORQ. 
 
 with five distinct sugar-loaf tops, tops which had 
 to be watched while counting as they emerged 
 and disappeared in turn from out and in the 
 hanging land of clouds. Yes, the view had 
 certainly not been overrated, and X. was glad he 
 came. 
 
 Usoof and Abu refused to consider anything 
 beautiful, and could only exclaim with horror at 
 the bathers in the river, who evidently shocked 
 their ideas of propriety. Their master was not 
 surprised at their comments, but his own views 
 were broader and his moral perceptions perhaps 
 blunter, and experience had taught him the 
 propriety of the injunction concerning Rome 
 and the Romans. But it was nevertheless quite 51 
 certain that the most moderate London County 
 Councillor could not have borne the sight of that 
 river without a shock to his system. After 
 revelling in the view from the verandah a black 
 coat was donned for dinner, which the wearer 
 subsequently found rendered him conspicuous, 
 and he then crossed the courtyard to the dining 
 room prepared to dine well off fresh fish, mutton, 
 and other products of the country. Although 
 the soup was on the table cooling, the company 
 sat outside round a little table drinking gin and 
 bitters. Not wanting any, X. as Clark Russell 
 would say, hung in the wind, and then after a 
 few seconds — seeing that dinner was certainly 
 ready — seated himself. This isolated action 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 rendered him almost as conspicuous as his coat, 
 which was also alone in its sombre glory. 
 Presently others followed the stranger's example, 
 and the meal began. Then ensued a period of 
 disillusion. There was no punkah, the glare of 
 the lamplight was blinding, and the food — all 
 of it — coarse, greasy and cold. The soup which 
 had been waiting was of the variety known as 
 tinned, an old acquaintance which X. had hoped 
 to have left in the jungle until his return. This, 
 and other messes, would not have mattered so 
 greatly, had not the proprietor of the hotel, a 
 pompous gentleman (X. afterwards learnt he was 
 President of the Race Club), stood sentry over 
 52 the door, whence issued the rows of servants with 
 the dishes, narrowly watching what each guest 
 partook of and detecting with an eagle eye the 
 uneatable scraps which the defeated diner had 
 striven to conceal beneath his knife and fork. 
 The most amusing thing during the progress of 
 the meal was the conversation of an elderly 
 English couple, who, in truly British tourist 
 fashion seemed to imagine they were alone, and 
 the people round them but figures of wax who 
 could neither hear nor be affected by anything 
 they might say. ** Oh, how the}^ soak the fish 
 in grease," the lady would exclaim ; or, " This 
 is good meat, but ruined, yes, positively ruined 
 in the cooking; look, my dear, it is (doubtfully, 
 and sniffing at her plate), it is absolutely soaked 
 
BUITENZORO. 
 
 in grease — oh, what a pity, how can you eat it, 
 dear — but you would eat anything," the speaker 
 continued garrulously, " for yesterday you ate 
 the fish on board that steamer when it was almost 
 rotten — I smelt it from my cabin before we came 
 out, etc," and much more in the same strain. To 
 all these domestic remarks, her companion 
 vouchsafed no reply, but continued his dinner as 
 though accustomed to such an accompaniment. 
 
 It was as much as X. could do to refrain from 
 laughing, and, fearful of hurting the feelings 
 of others himself, he would take another helping 
 when the proprietor was looking, and felt 
 uncommonly " hot " at the conduct of his 
 compatriot. However, worse was to come, for 53 
 at the end of dinner, when the "boys" brought 
 coffee made in the way usual to the country — a 
 few drops of cold essence of coffee at the bottom 
 of the cups, which had to be filled up with 
 boiling milk or water — the lady from England 
 could not contain her indignation, but loudly 
 scolded the waiter for such a stingy way of 
 putting so little in the cup, since " coffee should 
 surely be cheap in Java," and then proceeded to 
 empty the contents of all the cups into two, one 
 for herself and one for her husband, while saying 
 with a smile "we like a cup of coffee, not a drop." 
 Then while she sipped her full cup like one on 
 whom there unwillingly dawns the unpleasant 
 consciousness of having made a mistake, the 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 lady further addressed the waiter and asked, 
 " Do they always drink cold coffee in Java ? " 
 The waiter, who could only stand passive while 
 this calm robbery was committed — for had not 
 the whole company to wait for a second brew — 
 made reply with the only English of his 
 vocabulary, "yes." X., who had the doubtful 
 advantage of understanding as well as seeing all 
 that was going on, glared fiercely as he saw 
 himself deprived of the only portion of the meal 
 which was at all likely to be good, and could 
 willingly have caused an interruption by using 
 his napkin and bread as a sling and a stone. 
 The "yes" of the native apparently checked the 
 54 embarrassment which the lady was beginning to 
 feel, and triumphantly she exclaimed, " My good- 
 ness, what a country." Then the husband blew 
 his nose with discomfort, and, her attention 
 attracted, his good wife exclaimed, " My dear, 
 you have a cold, let us go to bed," and they 
 went. X., and possibly others, found satisfaction 
 in the thought that people might go to bed after 
 partaking of such a concoction as that couple 
 had done, but that they certainly would not 
 sleep. Nor did they, as the sequel showed. For 
 the lady and her husband also had a room on the 
 terrace suite, and this was divided only by a 
 thin partition from that of X., and though he did 
 not wish to listen, the first words which greeted 
 his gratified ears on the following morning were, 
 
BUITENZORG. 
 
 "Ob, darling, I have had such a dreadful night ; 
 I never closed my eyes." X. heard no more as 
 he delicately buried his head in the pillows, lest 
 he should be dragged too deep in domestic 
 confidences ; but he had heard enough — he was 
 avenged. And they knew themselves it was the 
 coffee, since it was noticed that this night after 
 dinner the sleepless couple each firmly declined 
 the brimming cups, which, with kind forethought 
 for the public good, the proprietor had ordered to 
 be handed to them. 
 
 55 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CUSTOMS AND COSTUMES. 
 
 Early in the morning X. went out to explore, 
 and, naturally, his first visit was to those wonder- 
 ful gardens which are the first in the world, and 
 are the resort of naturalists from all portions of 
 56 the globe. 
 
 In a sketch of this nature it would be pre- 
 sumption to attempt to describe the marvels of 
 this garden, one of the sights of the East, which 
 it is worth while going to Java to see. During 
 his walk the traveller was at every turn 
 astonished at the evidences of wealth amongst 
 the natives, the tiled roofed houses and plentifully 
 stocked orchards and gardens, while goats and 
 sheep browsed everywhere. In the streets 
 everyone appeared to be selling — there seemed 
 none left to buy — and they sold the most 
 attractive looking fruits and vegetables, together 
 with a variety of flowers. The population is 
 large, and for some distance round the town 
 stretched rows and rows of native houses built 
 
CUSTOMS AND COSTUMES. 
 
 close together, backs and fronts facing each 
 other in every angle and position, showing that 
 the people must surely live together in unity, en 
 famille or rather en masse, in marked contrast to 
 the Malay villages, where, as a rule, each house 
 stands in an enclosure of its own grounds. But 
 there they have unlimited space, here apparently 
 they have unlimited people. 
 
 Himself living an isolated life amongst a native 
 race, it was only natural that X. should be more 
 inclined than the ordinary traveller to notice the 
 people of the country and their surroundings. 
 He had heard so many stories of their oppres- 
 sion by the Dutch and the uncomfortable 
 conditions under which they lived, that the 57 
 actual appearance of the natives came as a 
 surprise, which only increased the more he saw 
 and the further he travelled in Java. 
 
 As to higher life in Java, to any one who 
 has been there or knows anything of the country, 
 its social conditions are well known. But 
 however much may have been previously heard 
 of them, it cannot but give the ordinary English- 
 man a shock, when he is for the first time 
 confronted with them in their reality. Inter- 
 marriage with the people of the country is not 
 only condoned, but almost encouraged, and it is 
 no uncommon thing to meet the children of these 
 marriages in the highest society. Cases occur 
 where people, holding great positions, legitimize 
 
FROM JUNQLE TO JAVA. 
 
 their children, and after years of unsolemnized 
 intercourse lead their mother to the altar. The 
 mothers of many children being educated in 
 Holland, probably in the future to enter the 
 service of the country, are simply native women 
 still living in their villages. The accident of 
 birth would seldom be considered a bar when 
 ascending official heights, nor is a mixed 
 parentage any obstacle to such distinction. 
 
 Many instances of this were observed by X. 
 during his visit, and, though the state of affairs 
 appeared to him rather strange, he was obliged 
 to own that from a Dutch point of view there 
 existed many and weighty arguments in its 
 58 favour, the pros and cons of such a question are 
 certainly beyond the scope of a book which only 
 purports to note for the benefit of intending 
 travellers such things as merit observation. 
 
 So far as I can gather, there were few excur- 
 sions to be made from Buitenzorg and few 
 sights, but in the afternoon he drove to see a 
 famous stone covered with Hindoo inscriptions, 
 the first indication brought to his notice of the 
 real origin of this now Mahommedan people. 
 
 Late in the day X. decided to call upon the 
 official who holds the position corresponding with 
 that of an English Colonial Secretary, and to 
 ask his assistance in obtaining a pass to continue 
 his journey into the interior. Though warned 
 not to call before 7 p.m., just as it was getting 
 
CUSTOMS AND COSTUMES. 
 
 dusk, the traveller felt nervous and fidgety, unable 
 to really believe that he would be doing right to 
 make a call so late, and thus six o'clock found 
 him approaching the very modest-looking dwelling 
 in which the great official dwelt. A glance was 
 enough to show that he was wrong and his 
 informant right, since in front of him, at a desk 
 in a room off the verandah, sat his host still 
 clothed in the undress of pyjamas — not having 
 yet made his toilet for the evening. However, 
 though X. felt guilty of a gaucherie, the sense of 
 it came entirely from his own consciousness, and 
 not at all from the manner of the gentleman 
 whom he interrupted, for without the least trace 
 of either annoyance or surprise, but as though 59 
 the untimely appearance of a stranger and a 
 foreigner was a daily occurrence, he bade him 
 welcome with polite cordiality. This official 
 was as agreeable and well informed as anyone the 
 traveller had met, and X. always waxes enthusi- 
 astic when speaking of him. With true courtesy 
 he at once abandoned the work on which he was 
 engaged, without that last lingering look at the 
 table which so often ruins the grace of a similar 
 sacrifice, and forthwith evinced the utmost 
 interest in the affairs of his guest. He quickly 
 reassured him concerning his pass, and, on 
 hearing that he was in some way connected with 
 the Government across the Straits, immediately 
 promised to procure for him a special permit 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 which would enable him to travel where he would, 
 and ensure assistance from all with whom he 
 came in contact. Though, at this time relying 
 upon his own ability to manage the order of his 
 going, X. may not have attached much importance 
 to the future part which this permit would play, 
 at the end of his travels he gladly acknowledged 
 that it proved of the utmost utility, and there 
 was more than one occasion on which he felt 
 impelled to record words of gratitude towards 
 him who had so thoughtfully provided it. 
 
 Apropos of the calling hour, it may be men- 
 tioned here that this is a social rock on which 
 many English people strike. I use this nautical 
 60 simile advisedly since, not so very long ago, no 
 less a person than a British Admiral wishing to 
 follow the hours to which he was accustomed 
 paid his official call on the Dutch Naval Com- 
 mander at five o'clock. The Dutch Admiral, 
 who was not then dressed, and did not intend to 
 dress until seven o'clock, declined to receive him 
 at such an unusual hour, and the question of dress, 
 always one of the first importance in the British 
 Navy, then became rather a burning one, until 
 tactful mediators paved the way for a more 
 successful visit. Whereas, in the East, English 
 people maintain their usual habits and customs — 
 did not our grandfathers wear tall hats when 
 pig-sticking in India? — the Dutch in Java adopt 
 the habits and the clothes they consider most 
 
CUSTOMS AND COSTUMES. 
 
 fitting for the climate. It is not intended to 
 imply that both are loose, though certainly the 
 former are somewhat relaxed. No visitor to the 
 country is competent to give a judgment for or 
 against the manners he finds there. X. longed 
 to impress this on more than one tourist whom 
 he met on his travels. 
 
 Few Dutch ladies in Java mind being seen in 
 what to us appears undress — a sarong and kabaya 
 — and frequently, when without guests, it is the 
 custom to dine in this scanty apparel. In conse- 
 quence there is a dislike to dining out, which 
 involves the wearing of European clothes in all 
 their fashionable tightness, and many a story is 
 told in Batavia of sudden illness amongst lady 61 
 guests during the evening — illness easily attribut- 
 able to the unusual compression of garments, 
 worn only on such rare occasions. 
 
 There is seldom necessity for dressing since 
 Europeans scarcely ever call in Java — of ladies 
 it may be said they never call — though in the 
 mornings they drive round in covered carriages 
 visiting their intimate friends, clad in the skirts 
 of the country so universally adopted. 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 AN UNTIMELY CALL. 
 
 It was this same custom which caused discomfiture 
 to X. on the following day, when having received 
 the promised special permit, a document calling 
 upon all officials to assist him, in the name of the 
 62 Governor- General himself, he decided that it 
 would be only right that he should present himself 
 at the house of the ruler who had signed it, and 
 in token of gratitude and respect inscribe his name 
 in his book. As the traveller had no intention of 
 seeing anyone or attempting to enter the gorgeous 
 palace which stands in the midst of the famous 
 gardens, there seemed no need to trouble about 
 the time for the call, and therefore it seemed well 
 to make it the excuse for a walk and fit it in with 
 his afternoon stroll. Accordingly about 5 o'clock 
 found him walking up the broad avenue, on either 
 side of which were browsing deer in great 
 numbers — a very novel feature to anyone who for 
 years had only seen such creatures wild excepting 
 one time when — but no I must withhold the 
 
AN UNTIMELY CALL. 
 
 temptation to wander off the broad avenue which 
 leads the visitor up to the stately pile in front of 
 him as, like he did a little further on, I would wish 
 to get it over. For it is not pleasant even to 
 record the admittedly awkward situations in which 
 X., who had always prided himself on his savoir 
 /aire, now so often found himself. 
 
 As he approached the portico (it reminded him 
 much of Gorhambury, the seat of Lord Verulam, 
 in Hertfordshire) the stranger became aware, 
 rather than actually saw, that there were two 
 figures seated on the main verandah having tea. 
 He almost felt their eyes upon him in wonder and 
 amusement, and, as he gradually neared the steps 
 without in any way looking up, it was in some 63 
 mysterious manner conveyed to him that these' 
 figures were ladies, and their dress, the sarong and 
 kabaya ! What was he to do. He could not turn 
 and fly, nor could he diverge from the broad path 
 and wander across the grass like any common 
 trespasser — and, even while he wondered, his steps 
 took him deliberately on, feeling self-conscious in 
 the most literal understanding of the word — and 
 inexorably each moment took him nearer, though 
 in the endeavour to put off the evil moment he 
 had, perhaps unknown to himself, slowed down his 
 previously deliberate saunter until his feet were 
 now doing little more than marking slow time. 
 However, the visitor gazed alternately at the tops 
 of the trees and the roof of the palace, as though 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 things of absorbing interest were there taking 
 place, and at last he was obliged to realize 
 that he had reached the lowest step of the 
 imposing staircase. 
 
 X. assures me that it is a fact, he never once 
 lowered his eyes or focussed the little party before 
 him, although ultimately the tea table could not 
 have been more than a few j^ards off. There 
 stood the stranger with a vacant expression which 
 would have made the fortune of a performer in a 
 waxwork show, and hoped and almost prayed that 
 a servant of some kind would appear, receive his 
 signature or his card and allow him to return to 
 the comfortless obscurity of his hotel. There was 
 "4 no bell, and no servant came, and the silence at" 
 length became unbearable. Relief came at last 
 from the tea party for the voice of a lady suddenly 
 fairly shrieked for a " boy." After this explosion 
 the tension of the situation was relieved, and there 
 was a sound as of chairs hastily pushed back and 
 the patter of little feet and the rustle of sarongs, 
 which led X. to infer that there had been some 
 sort of a retreat. Then a flurried native appeared, 
 he seemed a kind of gardener hastily fetched from 
 his duties, possibly the mowing machine, and 
 pouring forth words in a strange dialect he pointed 
 wildly to another flight of steps and another door. 
 Following this menial, a veritable deus ex machina, 
 X. was led down those palatial steps and up 
 another flight round the corner. There the 
 
AN UNTIMELY CALL. 
 
 gardener threw open a door and seemed disposed 
 to resign his custody of the stranger, preparing to 
 return again to his machine. But X. steadily 
 declined to enter alone into that vast hall, nor 
 would he even stay to look for a book in which to 
 write his name, for he felt that the hasty retreat 
 he had heard was not carried beyond the nearest 
 pillars, and each moment he tarried, the fugitives 
 were wondering what he could be doing while, 
 alas, their tea was getting cold. And so he thrust 
 his card, his only guarantee of good faith, into 
 the soiled hand of the solitary attendant of this 
 Eastern palace and fled — but fled he hoped with 
 dignity. As he walked down the avenue with 
 conscious and deliberate steps — admiring the view 65 
 on the right of him and the view on the left of 
 him — never looking back, though the desire for 
 one glance was so overpowering that the nape of 
 his neck actually ached, he conquered, and finally 
 emerged from those great gates without any 
 further satisfaction to the curiosity aroused by his 
 first involuntary glimpse. But so long as he 
 remained in Java he never paid another call before 
 dusk, a more convenient time, when such con- 
 tretemps are not likely to occur. 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A MODEL ESTATE. 
 
 X. WAS informed that the proper journey from 
 Buitenzorg was by carriage via Poentjuk to 
 Sindanglaya, where a stay should be made at 
 Gezondleid's establishment after securing an 
 66 upstairs room. The next stage in the traveller's 
 journey is to Tjandjoer and thence to Garvet. 
 And after a week at Garvet on again to Djoedja, 
 Solo, Semarang, etc., but the traveller had already 
 had sufficient of hotel life in Java, and so de- 
 termined to at once avail himself of a kind 
 invitation he had received to stay on an estate, 
 not many miles from Soekaboemi. After a few 
 hours' rail in a first-class carriage (this fact is 
 worth recording as it was very seldom that such 
 accommodation could be had, even if a first-class 
 ticket had been issued), he duly reached the 
 station where he had been instructed to alight. 
 Here his host had sent two ponies to meet him, 
 one for himself and one for his servant, as well as 
 several coolies to carry his luggage. So, Abu 
 
A MODEL ESTATE. 
 
 being left at the house of the stationmaster in 
 care of the rest of the luggage (a terrible quantity, 
 the cost of its transport almost equalled the first- 
 class fare of its owner), X., followed by Usoof, 
 started on the ten mile ride which led to their 
 destination. The path was a very rough one, and 
 for the first portion of the distance the way was 
 through an open country planted with padi as far 
 as the eye could reach. The little ponies cared 
 nothing for the stony path, and went gamely 
 along as though accustomed to canter on a hard 
 high road. After crossing the valley the route 
 began to ascend the range of hills, at the summit 
 of which, 2,000 feet high, the estate was situated. 
 For almost the entire length of this ascent the 67 
 view was so glorious that the traveller continued 
 to exclaim in wonder to his companion to stop 
 and look. Usoof who, as has been related, was a 
 native of the country, affected to gaze at it with 
 the unconcern of a proprietor, merely reminding 
 his master that he had always said, that his was a 
 very fine country. For miles below the padi 
 fields stretched away narrowing in the distance, 
 and here and there amidst this expanse of emerald 
 green were dotted little clumps of green of a 
 darker shade, these being the trees surrounding 
 the clusters of houses inhabited by the fortunate 
 owners of the land. And every now and again 
 athwart the green carpet, stretched out below, 
 glittered belts of water sparkling like silver in the 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 sun. The hills, which were also all planted with 
 padi, looked like grassy slopes with a background 
 formed by terraces of hill-tops. One above the 
 other they lay in ranges, until, in the furthest 
 distance, mountains of noble height towered like 
 giants above them all. It surely was a view 
 worth going far to see, a wealth of green such as 
 an untravelled eye could not even dimly realise. 
 No troubles of travel, no greasy cookery or 
 breadless meals could matter one jot if this was 
 the reward. The view repaid the enterprize even 
 if the path by which it were approached led only 
 to a wayside inn of the most unpretentious type, 
 but its joys were enhanced by the anticipation of 
 68 a visit to a couple well known for their hospitality 
 to strangers. The host being a fellow-countryman 
 who had had the good fortune to marry a Dutch 
 lady of most distinguished family. Almost at the 
 summit of the hill, about eight miles from the 
 station, stood a little halting house bearing the 
 English-looking signboard with the legend of the 
 " Pig and Whistle." Here refreshments awaited 
 the travellers, and then the journey was continued 
 along a jungle path which shortly emerged on to 
 the cultivated slopes of the estate. These slopes 
 were covered with cinchona trees, which X. 
 afterwards learnt were in process of being rapidly 
 replaced by tea-plants. Presently at a dip in the 
 road the first glimpse was caught of the house 
 below. A little English cottage, it appeared. 
 
A MODEL ESTATE. 
 
 nestling cosily in a hollow, close beside a mountain 
 stream. A nearer approach revealed that the 
 cottage was covered with blue convolvulus and 
 other creepers, and that the verandahs were 
 enclosed with glass. It all reminded him some- 
 how of a well-known cottage by Boulter's Lock, 
 and there came a curious thrill of home memories 
 at the sight of a typical English home. On the 
 further side of the stream stood a little detached 
 pavilion, kept exclusively for guests, after the 
 fashion of all Dutch houses in the East. This 
 annexe is generally considered the house of the 
 elder son, but it is more usually built and used 
 for the accommodation of guests ; an excellent 
 arrangement in a country where both entertainers 69 
 and entertained wish occasionally to repose in 
 attire, whose lightness is best suited to the climate. 
 A rustic bridge connected the two buildings, and 
 just above it was the bath room, into which a 
 portion of the stream had been diverted, so as to 
 form a natural shower bath. The stream and 
 bridge and cottage, with their back-ground of 
 hills and fore-ground of roses, combined to make 
 such a picture that X, longed to be able to sketch 
 it and take it away and keep it. The interior of 
 this cottage was as cosy and home-like as the 
 outside promised it would be, and, wonder of 
 wonders ! it had real wall paper on the walls. 
 This almost unheard of luxury in the East was a 
 triumph of the skill of the hostess, and had so far 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 successfully defied the ravages of mildew and 
 damp. The chief characteristic of the house was 
 that it looked like a home, its tasteful decoration 
 and contents indicating that the inhabitants had 
 come to stay. Most houses in the East have an 
 unmistakeable air of being mere temporary 
 shelters, where the owners are lodging till they 
 can get away to their household goods now ware- 
 housed "at home." 
 
 This was only the second house X. had seen in 
 this part of the world, where the owners looked 
 as if they lived in it (the other was in Selangor). 
 In this ideal spot it was the good fortune of the 
 traveller to spend some days — days pleasantly 
 70 spent in riding about the estate — which he soon 
 grew to covet, and in watching the planting of 
 the tea, which, it was hoped, would eventually 
 enable the kind host and hostess to return with 
 wealth to their native land. The climate at this 
 elevation was delightful, cool, and invigorating, 
 and it was possible to follow English hours and 
 habits. Instead of getting up at 5 a.m. to go for 
 a ride, as was the custom in Pura Pura, X. found 
 himself starting for a ride after breakfast, about 
 ten o'clock, without fear of the sun, and this total 
 change lifted his spirits, and he recorded silent 
 thanks to The Community who had suggested 
 Java for his jaunt. 
 
 As may be imagined, during his stay in the 
 hills the visitor was able to learn much about the 
 
A MODEL ESTATE. 
 
 country, and hear many things that not only 
 interested him, but excited his admiration for the 
 administration of the precise and order-loving 
 race who owned this beautiful island. Contrary 
 to what he had been led to believe, chiefly, per- 
 haps, by a book which had given currency to the 
 impression, he found that the planters were 
 greatly assisted by the Government officials, who 
 endeavour to work with them, and, whenever 
 possible, to meet their wishes. The coolies 
 certainly all appeared happy, when X. got 
 accustomed to seeing them crouch servilely in the 
 ditches when he or his host passed by. English 
 officials in the native states of the Peninsula are 
 accustomed to pass their lives amongst the 71 
 Malays, to listen to and help them in their 
 troubles, and to be constantly surrounded by them 
 as followers or companions, and the inmates and 
 affairs of each household are known, much as 
 those of the cottagers on his estate would be to a 
 home-staying country squire in England. It can 
 then be understood how strange it seemed to X. 
 to ride amongst people of the same race and see 
 them crouch down as he passe'd, not even daring 
 to lift their eyes, as it is counted an offence should 
 they meet the gaze of one of the ruling race. 
 What could the latter really know of these people, 
 he wondered, when knowledge had to be obtained 
 from across/ such a social gulf as this. He could 
 not conceal the disagreeable impression made 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 upon him, but many reasons were afterwards 
 given to him as to why this state of things 
 should exist, and some of them were, he was 
 compelled to admit, good ones. The chief and 
 foremost was, perhaps, that all Javanese customs 
 and manners are full of exaggerated formality and 
 etiquette. These the Dutch adopted as they found 
 them, including all outward tokens of respect for 
 those of superior rank, deeming that all Euro- 
 peans should be treated with the same ceremony 
 as the native headman. 
 
 One of the other reasons given was that the 
 Dutch, being a small nation and unable to keep 
 a large force in the country, must rely upon 
 72 keeping the natives down in their proper place — 
 under foot — for the continuance of the supremacy 
 they had achieved. X., as others would do, can 
 only hope that this view, though heard from 
 several sources, was given to him " sarcastic 
 like," and that it was expected he would duly 
 appreciate the irony. And perhaps he did, seeing 
 that he came from a country where, without the 
 presence of a single soldier, the widely scattered, 
 and in many cases isolated, officials can act as the 
 friends and advisers of a native race without the 
 least fear of any loss of dignity or position, both 
 accepted as so much a matter of course as to 
 make any question regarding them impossible. 
 
 Java is, perhaps, the most governed country in 
 the world. This phrase is not the writer's; he 
 
A MODEL ESTATE. 
 
 merely quotes an opinion to be found in books on 
 Java, written by men entitled to judge, and 
 frequently expressed by people our traveller met 
 in that island. The people are united by what 
 might be described as chains of officials, and 
 each link in each chain submits periodically 
 precise reports on everything and everybody 
 within his charge. The system sounds flawless, 
 and the head of all, the chief official in the 
 country, has thus pigeon-holed in front of him 
 more detailed and readily-found information about 
 his subjects than is, perhaps, possessed by any 
 other ruler in the world. This is a matter which 
 might excite admiration, and there is no doubt 
 that it in some respects merits it, and the 73 
 contrast presented to our own system of govern- 
 ment in the adjacent mainland is worthy of 
 examination. But it would be out of place in a 
 book which professes to do no more than describe 
 a pleasant tour, and X.'s opinion upon a question 
 of such gravity, even though formed after a 
 lengthy sojourn amongst the Malays, and no 
 little personal experience of the life and manners 
 of an Eastern people, may be omitted. It may 
 be recorded, however, that the question made 
 him ponder, and he wondered if the officials who 
 knew everybody also knew everything, and 
 whether many matters worthy of record did 
 not find themselves washed on one side as the 
 stream of reports wound its way from one native 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 official to another, then to the subordinate 
 European officials (sometimes married to native 
 women), and then once more on to the pigeon- 
 holes of the central authority. As I write I have 
 before me a list of fifteen titles of native officials 
 given to X. by one of themselves. There is no 
 need to enumerate them here, though allusion to 
 them may suggest the possibilities of the various 
 stages of the journey to the final pigeon-holes. 
 
 Natives themselves have evidently formed 
 opinions on these matters, since in some of the 
 native states of the Peninsula it was always the 
 custom of the people to invite a raja from another 
 country to come and rule over them, experience 
 74 having taught them that a man with interest and 
 relations in the country might not always be 
 sufficiently impartial ; in the same manner the 
 native Mahommedan priest is always selected 
 from another nationality. However, to return to 
 the place where we left X. riding along amongst 
 the young tea plants. When the coolies were not 
 running away from him or crouching to avoid 
 the shock of meeting his imperial glance, he was 
 bound to admit that they were apparently happy 
 and contented, and, seeing the circumstances 
 under which they lived, it would have been strange 
 had they not been so. These people were pro- 
 vided with ample work within easy reach of their 
 homes, which lay among the surrounding hills. It 
 seemed an earthly labour paradise to an official. 
 
A MODEL ESTATE. 
 
 accustomed to hear the complaints of planters 
 lamenting losses due to their labourers, imported 
 coolies from India, China or Java, running away. 
 Not only is the lot of the coolies in Java more 
 conducive to content than those in the Peninsula, 
 but the planter is also happier in the current rate 
 of wages ; 20 to 25 cents a day (Java cents) 
 and for women 15 cents. On this estate, as on 
 most others, there was a festival fund for the 
 coolies, that is a certain sum of money is spent 
 annually on their recreation, providing for musical 
 instruments and paying for travelling shows, etc. 
 X. felt that he had had the best of shows provided 
 for him, a show estate, where the supply of labour 
 was cheap and unlimited, and the people well 75 
 cared for without any elaborate legislation being 
 required for their protection. Here at any rate 
 was a positive result of the administration of 
 the Dutch, and a confutation of the stories of 
 down-trodden peasants in Java ; and the traveller 
 made up his mind that if possible he would one 
 day be a planter and that his plantation should 
 be in Java. 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 AMONG THE ROSES. 
 
 Life was so smooth and even in this little 
 cottage by the river that days flew by with that 
 pleasant rapidity which leaves nothing to record 
 except a general sense of restful enjoyment. 
 76 One expedition, however, might be described, a 
 visit paid to a neighbouring estate which had 
 been advertised for sale, as giving a glimpse of 
 a typical phase of up-country life. The call 
 was paid about noon, and after riding down a 
 steep hill, where natives were busily engaged in 
 planting tea, the two Englishmen came upon a 
 little square white house half hidden in a bend 
 in the stream. This building had a deserted, 
 untidy look which was intensified by the state of 
 the garden which surrounded it; even at some 
 distance from the house the scent of roses was 
 perceptible, and in the garden itself, if such a 
 wilderness deserves the name, the odour was 
 almost overpowering. The place was a miniature 
 forest of rose-bushes, loaded with lovely blossoms, 
 
AMONG THE ROSES. 
 
 roses such as X. had not seen since he left his 
 native land. Everything looked untidy and 
 ragged and ruined ; the house, the creepers, the 
 rose bushes, the grass, the pigeon lofts all spoke 
 of neglect and want of money to put them 
 straight, a want caused by the fall in the price of 
 cinchona, a misfortune which had involved many 
 a fair estate and reduced it to the desolate and 
 unkempt condition exemplified by the one now 
 visited. But even unkempt and uncared for, what 
 a picture it made ! It was the realisation of a 
 poetic death — the victim smothered by roses 
 beside the singing waters of a brook. It was a 
 long time before any one came, and the two 
 visitors sat in the verandah feeling rather shy and 77 
 uncomfortable, for this was the neighbour's first 
 visit, and the native, who had ushered them in, 
 vanished, sending weird cries around the tangled 
 garden paths as though to summon his master 
 home. 
 
 At length, after long waiting, the silence and 
 suspense, and the wonder of who would come, 
 from which direction, and when, grew almost 
 unbearable, and the absurd situation so wrought 
 on their nerves that both visitors gave vent to 
 little gasps of laughter, brought on probably by 
 the same nervous sensations which compel children 
 to misbehave in church — direct promptings 
 of the evil one, inducing a desire to do that 
 which we know we should not do. At length. 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 after it had been debated in hurried whispers 
 whether a departure could not be effected, the 
 lady of the house appeared upon the scene. She 
 was a tall, large lady, in appearance typically 
 Dutch. She wore the usual white linen jacket 
 and skimpy sarong, and her legs were bare. 
 She gave a cordial greeting in Dutch, at least to 
 X. it was Dutch, for he knew nothing whatever 
 of the language. This his friend carefully 
 explained, so he surmised, as the lady gave vent 
 to various guttural exclamations of astonishment 
 and turned to gaze at him as though he were 
 indeed a strange person to behold. 
 
 The conversation between the two then con- 
 78 tinued glibly, and X. was quite forgotten, and he 
 felt neglected and grew fidgety, realizing that he 
 extremely disliked this novel sensation of being 
 ignored, without the possibility of attracting any 
 attention to himself by a remark. He was soon 
 to learn however, that those trifling incon- 
 veniences of which we are cognizant are generally 
 less unpleasant than those we do not know, for 
 presently there was a stir and a general rising 
 from seats as the husband of the good lady 
 emerged from the house on to the verandah. 
 This gentleman was tall and dark, with a pointed 
 grey beard like an American in a caricature. He 
 was clothed in a strange deshabille, which ended in 
 bare feet thrust loosely into carpet slippers, and 
 when the eyes of the visitors reached thus far they 
 
AMONG THE ROSES. 
 
 realized why his complexion was so dark. After 
 the first greetings the host — who X. afterwards 
 learnt had once held high office under Govern- 
 ment, which he gave up for planting — turned 
 towards him and proceeded to harangue him 
 without full stops. There is no other way to 
 describe what took place, as he continued to pour 
 language at his guest without the least apparent 
 desire for reply. To say that the visitor felt 
 uncomfortable would be to mildly describe his 
 feelings — he had wished for recognition, and surely 
 had it now. What would his host think of him, 
 if he allowed him to continue to talk and never 
 informed him that he could not understand one 
 word of Dutch ? Again and again he endeavoured 79 
 to stem the torrent of words and explain both in 
 English and in French, and this being of no avail, 
 at the risk of appearing rude and inattentive, X. 
 turned to his friend and begged him to make the 
 matter clear. The friend said something in 
 Dutch, but he must, it seemed, have said the 
 wrong thing, since it had not the slightest effect, 
 and the host continued his talk, probably all 
 about the advantages of the estate he wished to 
 sell. Then, regarding the situation as hopeless, X. 
 fixed his expression into one of intelligent atten- 
 tion and waited for him to stop. But he was not 
 so attentive that he did not presently hear the good 
 lady say something to his friend which caused 
 him to exclaim as though astonished, and with a 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 suppressed click of a laugh he turned to X. and 
 said, " It's all right. Madame has just told me he 
 is stone deaf and can't hear a word, so it's no use 
 my saying anything, he would understand you as 
 well." " But can't the lady tell him I don't know 
 Dutch ? " exclaimed X. almost desperately — but 
 too late, for by this time his friend was again 
 deeply engaged in conversation with his hostess, 
 and there was nothing to be done but once more 
 give his assumed attention to his host. A pleasant 
 situation truly, to go to a man's house for the 
 first time and so conduct yourself that you feel 
 certain he will presently believe that it was your 
 intention to deliberately insult and make a fool of 
 80 him. X. will never forget that quarter of an hour. 
 At last the conversation ended by its appearing 
 that the lady had suggested, and her visitor 
 agreed to, a walk round the estate. When he 
 gathered this, X. eagerly seconded the proposition, 
 but it took all joy out of it to find that the 
 verbose proprietor insisted upon accompanying 
 them himself to do the honours of the place. It 
 was in vain that X. endeavoured to plant him on 
 his friend, for his prolonged assumption of intelli- 
 gent interest had apparently been so successful, 
 that his host was flattered and never left his side. 
 However, a few climbs up slippery by-paths — 
 I fear deliberately chosen — soon dislodged the 
 slippers, and the poor man was compelled to 
 heed what, it is hoped, he interpreted as polite 
 
AMONG THE ROSES . 
 
 entreaties not to put himself out for his visitors 
 and return to the house. Then ensued a tour of 
 the estate, which had once been of great promise 
 and now, alas, was overrun with undergrowth and 
 weed. After their walk the Englishmen found 
 that the most hospitable preparations had been 
 made for their entertainment, and, more, that 
 these had evidently been seen to by a daughter 
 whose presence had not before been observed. 
 Would I could describe this young girl as she 
 appeared to X., who has confessed that he found 
 it quite impossible to find words with which to 
 paint a picture which could do her the scantiest 
 justice. Simply attired in the same costume as 
 her mother, but oh, how becoming that costume 81 
 can be ! This charming apparition carried round 
 the glasses and offered wine to the visitors, while 
 X. wished heartily that the dear old host would 
 harangue him ever so long that he might keep 
 silence and watch — watch this dainty, dark-eyed 
 maiden, who looked as if she had stepped out of 
 some old picture to render those little domestic 
 services after the custom of days gone by ; and 
 as he received his glass from the charming atten- 
 dant, he endeavoured to think what it was this 
 kindly service most called to mind, and in his 
 memory he found it in those hospitable houses in 
 New Zealand beyond the Bay of Islands where 
 once he visited, and all the daily life was like a 
 glimpse of a century that had passed. But 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 though visiting was good, X. was soon wanting 
 to improve his position and show that he was 
 capable of taking a more active part in the 
 conversation than he had hitherto done, and so 
 reckless of his host's disgust at a sudden lack of 
 attention, he rose and went to the side table to 
 sniff at the beautiful flowers and peep at the 
 sample sacks of coffee which lay piled in the 
 corner of the room. But such little wiles to 
 obtain speech with the modest maiden were of 
 small use, when one party spoke English and the 
 other Dutch, while neither of them knew both. 
 It is true that X. could have carried on a conver- 
 sation in Malay, and he was sure that that 
 82 language would be well known to all the family, 
 but he had been warned that people in Java did 
 not like to be addressed in a language they consi- 
 dered fit only for a medium of communication 
 with their servants. An invitation to stay and 
 lunch was refused — in Dutch — and the planter 
 friend afterwards explained that he had done so, 
 as he thought X. would not have liked to go 
 without bread, since in such establishments up 
 country bread was never found. As if — under the 
 circumstances — X. would have cared whether he 
 ate bread or rice, provided the rose-nymph had 
 handed it to him ; and so alas ! they rode away 
 beyond the fragrance of the roses and through the 
 neglected grounds, carrying with them a new 
 memory of home life which it will be hard to 
 
AMONG THE R05E5. 
 
 forget. The shabby, neglected house — the sacks 
 of coffee and flowers run riot — the deaf, courteous 
 ex-official, perhaps proud of his descent from 
 some great Makassar chief — the kindly lady, 
 embodiment of perfect health, who long ago had 
 left her home in Europe for life in a distant land 
 with the husband of her choice — and last but not 
 least of all these impressions of that day — their 
 child — reared in a glorious country — unspoilt by 
 contact with civilization — simple, unaffected, a 
 picture from the past. 
 
 83 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 GARVET. 
 
 After leaving the cottage on the estate X. started 
 for Garvet. The view from the train, as it 
 reached its destination, was certainly one of the 
 most beautiful that could be imagined. Long 
 reaches of padi fields, backed by hills in a high 
 ^^ state of cultivation, and the whole watered by 
 little gushing torrents that looked cool and 
 refreshing in the all-surrounding sun. 
 
 It is impossible to describe the scenery as it 
 appeared to the traveller, or in any way to do it 
 justice. It is altogether new and unlike anything 
 seen in other countries, with the exception, 
 perhaps, of Ceylon or Japan, and it is worth a 
 journey from Europe to see. 
 
 The hotel at Garvet proved to be a combination 
 of little buildings, scattered about in the gardens 
 surrounding the main buildings, or across the 
 road in enclosures of their own. X. obtained one 
 of these cottages, and felt that he would be fairly 
 comfortable, till an inspection of the bathing 
 arrangements made him shudder. 
 
GARVET. 
 
 When dinner time arrived, table d'hote also 
 served to dispel illusions. There was the same 
 absence of punkah, the same glaring light, and 
 succession of half-cooked clammy dishes. There 
 were only a few diners, apparently mostly 
 residents of the place who boarded at the hotel. 
 These gentlemen had put on black coats, and made 
 a kind of toilet for the evening meal. But the 
 penance they thus endured was brief, as, after 
 hastily disposing of sufficient of the viands to 
 satisfy their individual wants, they retired to 
 their verandahs, where X. soon saw them reclin- 
 ing in all the comfort of pyjamas and bare feet. 
 Apparently the coating of civilization was not 
 sufficiently thin to be congenial. °^ 
 
 In the morning the traveller went to pay his 
 respects to the Assistant- Resident, who received 
 him very kindly, and gave him all the informa- 
 tion he required. This rather interrupted the 
 work of the office as, whenever the Assistant - 
 Resident turned to any employee to ask how 
 far such and such a place might be distant, or 
 the tariff of carriages, etc., the person so 
 addressed, no matter how engaged, would, before 
 reply, immediately flop on to his knees. The 
 Regent was also calling on the representative of 
 the Government, and to him the Englishman was 
 introduced. This native functionary was fat and 
 well-looking, but did not seem to exactly bristle 
 with intelligence. 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 The Assistant-Resident very kindly conversed 
 freely with his visitor about matters affecting the 
 natives, and gave him much information, which, 
 from the nature of his own work in Pura Pura, 
 interested him greatly. To those whom the 
 subject interests, the land system in Java is too 
 well known to need comment here, but there were 
 a few facts learnt by X. which should remove 
 any idea amongst those who have not studied the 
 question, that the laws were either harsh or 
 intricate. Indeed, they seem to attain that 
 brevity and simplicity which are the great 
 desideratum when dealing with a native 
 peasantry. Thus, a man need pay no rent until 
 86 his land is in bearing. Coffee is the only product 
 whose sale to Government is compulsory. All 
 land is classified and subject to a fixed rent, there 
 is therefore a safeguard that the fruits of an 
 owner's industry will not be taxed. Anyone can 
 complain if he thinks his land is rated too high, 
 and should be in a lower class, and the complaint 
 receives immediate attention. Though the 
 population is large, there is seldom any trouble 
 about boundary marks in the padi fields. Owners 
 are content with long custom and local knowledge, 
 and their reliance on their host of native officials 
 never fails. All new land must be fenced round, 
 if it is contiguous to Government land, and on all 
 plantations people must themselves plant trees as 
 boundaries and upkeep them. And one register of 
 
GARVET. 
 
 titles with columns filled in and signed, according 
 to its cultivation and classification, answers for 
 all. Lastly, let it be mentioned that there is a 
 golden rule, that a native cannot sell his land 
 to anyone but his own countrymen, neither to 
 European, Arab or Chinese. Thus no individual, 
 tempted by the speculation, can by his selfish 
 action, cause harm or annoyance to his neighbours. 
 This one register of titles, mentioned above, is 
 gradually filled in and signed as the land is brought 
 into cultivation, and an exact record is thus kept of 
 the actual present condition of each native hold- 
 ing. When finally signed, and the land yields 
 produce, rent is demanded. The advantage of 
 simplicity can only be realized by those whose lot 87 
 it has been to pose as the bringer of glad tidings, 
 and expound the advantages of the last new 
 land code with its many paragraphs to an 
 ignorant native population, who, unreasoning, 
 tenaciously cling to the title which they already 
 hold and think they understand, obstinately 
 refusing, speak the speaker never so plausibly, 
 to exchange it for the very newest that can 
 be given to them from the most up-to-date land 
 code in existence. 
 
 After his interview with the courteous official, 
 X. departed, pondering on all he had heard, and 
 bearing with him a memo, on which was written 
 the various places of interest which he had been 
 recommended to visit in the neighbourhood. On 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 his return to the hotel the traveller passed what 
 appeared to be the local club. 
 
 The first thing an English official in an out- 
 station in India or the Peninsula will do for a 
 stranger arriving with introductions, is to offer to 
 put him up for the club, and unless there seem 
 strong reason against it, he will most probably 
 ask him to dinner. Apparently this was not the 
 custom here, and so X. was free to wander about 
 the little town and explore, with nothing more 
 exciting to look forward to than a repetition of 
 last night's gruesome meal in company with 
 the suffering tenants of the prandial coats. 
 
 88 
 
BATHS AND VOLCANOES. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 BATHS AND VOLCANOES. 
 
 Garvet seemed to boast of an enormous popu- 
 lation for there were endless rows, or rather 
 groups of houses, crowded together, face to face, 
 back to back, and side by side, giving the idea of 
 a casual conglomeration of several villages. All 
 these were scrupulously clean and neat, and fenced 89 
 round with little bamboo rails. Nearly every 
 house had a tiled roof, and all were of a superior 
 class to the majority of those up country in the 
 Peninsula. The streets were little short of 
 marvellously swept and clean, and it was decided 
 by X. during that walk that Garvet was the 
 cleanest Eastern town he had ever seen — the 
 capital of Pura Pura of course excepted. Much 
 had been talked of about the hot baths at Tji Panao, 
 and so the traveller determined to make that his 
 first excursion. Hiring a conveyance drawn by 
 three ponies abreast — reminding him of his early 
 youth when he would wonder at a smart turn-out 
 in the Park at home — three ponies abreast driven 
 by a well known leader of society and fashion, 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 before the days of two-wheeled pony carts and 
 bicycles, X. told the driver to go to Tji Panao, 
 and looked forward to spending a delicious half 
 hour lying in warm water like that of the springs 
 in New Zealand, which send the bather forth invigo- 
 rated and refreshed. Another disillusion was in 
 store for him, however, in this country where nature 
 has done so much and man — for comfort — so little. 
 The baths were located in a shed on the side of a 
 hill. This shed had three partitions. In each 
 partition was a shallow brick hole in which it was 
 possible to sit. The hot water was conveyed into 
 these holes by means of pipes, one at the head of 
 each. The floor all round the bath was dirty, and 
 90 the only furniture was one cane chair. The depth 
 of the water in the baths was about three inches, 
 and in this on slimy bricks the bather had to sit 
 miserably, with the lower portion of his body 
 immersed in warm water while the upper 
 remained high and dry in the comparatively cool 
 air above. X. had made preparations for a 
 prolonged stay in the water, and came provided 
 with literature to pass the time, but a very brief 
 dip under the circumstances proved enough, and 
 he soon unhitched his clothing from the back of 
 the chair and prepared to depart. Close by these 
 baths was a building containing four rooms, 
 apparently a Government Rest House, very well 
 furnished and comfortable, so it was evident that 
 people came there on purpose to make use of the 
 
BATHS AND VOLCANOES . 
 
 baths. The hot water springs possess great 
 capabihties, and with a little trouble and expen- 
 diture of money they should become both 
 enjoyable and a source of revenue. 
 
 There were one or two other excursions to be 
 made from Garvet, but the only one worthy of 
 mention was that which was made to the volcano 
 at Tjiseroepan. One morning, together with 
 Usoof and Abu, for X. was growing tired of sight 
 seeing all alone, having obtained permission from 
 the kind Assistant-Resident to use the Government 
 Rest House, he drove to Tjiseroepan. The road 
 was excellent and the route, needless to say, lay 
 through a beautiful country. Here, as everywhere 
 else, all well-to-do natives were riding ponies. The 
 distance was thirteen miles. Tjiseroepan is a little 
 village in the hills at the foot of the mountain 
 which it was proposed to ascend on the following 
 day. The traveller was received by the Assistant 
 Wodena, a native official who had been riding 
 suspiciously behind and before the carriage during 
 the last two miles. After reading the credentials 
 of the stranger and finding that he could converse 
 in Malay, the local magnate became quite cordial, 
 and made X. free of the Government Rest House. 
 This was well furnished with beds and tables, etc., 
 but glass and crockery were not provided. 
 
 The Assistant Wodena conducted the visitor 
 round the village, which was a model of neatness. 
 Each house stood in a garden, growing coffee, 
 
 91 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 vegetables, and strawberries. The head of the 
 village and a few others live in very good houses, 
 and there seemed to be ponies without number. 
 The village perched on a slope and the cultivated 
 hillside bore some resemblance to a scene in the 
 South of Italy. The usual signs of prosperity and 
 content reigned everywhere, and neither in this 
 village, nor elsewhere, where X. conversed with 
 the natives could he find anything to explain the 
 commonly accepted view that the people of Java 
 are inimical to their rulers. 
 
 The Rest House proved comfortable, X. had 
 brought his own provisions, which his servants 
 cooked, and for once he enjoyed a hot and 
 92 palatable meal. There was plenty of opportunity 
 for conversation with the Assistant Wodena, who 
 was quite willing to discourse on the customs of the 
 country, and he gave a most interesting account 
 of the elaborate etiquette of Javanese Rajas, and 
 of the extraordinary deference paid by commoners 
 to rank. He in his turn asked many questions 
 concerning Malacca and the Malay Straits, about 
 which his interlocutor was able to give him all the 
 information sought for. 
 
 The next morning the sightseer and his 
 followers ascended the mountain on ponies to see 
 the volcano. This was a kind of inferno with 
 wicked mouths which looked like ventilators from 
 the bowels of the earth spitting and hissing 
 blinding steam. 
 
BATHS AND VOLCANOES. 
 
 The whole face of the mountain was yellow 
 with sulphur, and the air was sickening from its 
 smell. Usoof and Abu were not a little terrified 
 by this awful experience, and grasped their Tuan 
 by the arm entreating him not to venture near 
 what, they evidently thought, were the gates of 
 hell. 
 
 I feel that I have paid sufficient deference to 
 my instructions in recording the impressions the 
 scenery made upon the traveller, and shall there- 
 fore omit all mention of what he saw while 
 descending the mountain. He described it as 
 wonderful, and those of my readers who have 
 arrived thus far will be prepared to admit the 
 accuracy of the description. 93 
 
 The party reached Garvet in time to catch the 
 two o'clock train to Tassikmalaja, and thus make 
 a start for Tjilatjap. 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE QUEST FOR A MOTHER. 
 
 To Start for Tjilatjap was such an unusual 
 departure that it merits a chapter all to itself. 
 No one had apparently left Garvet for Tjilatjap 
 for years, since it had been pronounced to be one 
 of the most unhealthy places in the island. The 
 correct thing for every traveller to do is to go to 
 Tassikmalaya for the night and proceed from 
 thence to Djoeja by train, go by carriage to 
 Beroboeddoer, where a halt for the night can be 
 made at a Government Rest House. The drive 
 is twenty-five miles. The next morning the 
 traveller should drive ten miles further to 
 Magelang, while his luggage goes by train or 
 bullock cart. From Magelang Amberawa is 
 reached by another drive of twenty miles, and 
 from here the railway can be taken to Semerang 
 or back to Djoeja, and from there to Solo, a three 
 hours' journey. 
 
 X. was informed that everyone took this route, 
 but he persisted in starting for Tjilatjap, notwith- 
 standing that the lady who presided over the 
 hotel assured him that it was the most fever 
 
THE QUEST FOR A MOTHER, 
 
 stricken port in the country. Had he known then 
 as much as he subsequently learnt of the evil 
 reputation of the place it is probable that the 
 traveller might have changed his plans. As it 
 was, he only replied that he was inured to fever 
 and did not mind. At that time he had no 
 particular reason for going to one place more than 
 another, and therefore the one which drove him 
 in this direction was good enough to serve his 
 purpose. Usoof desired to commence the search 
 for his mother. He had no recollection of the 
 village where he was born, but believed it to be 
 somewhere near the coast which, considering the 
 country was an island, was somewhat a vague 
 indication. After assisting his Tuan to study ^^ 
 a map he exclaimed that the name Tjilatjap 
 sounded familiar to him, and sure enough it was 
 a large town on the coast. Now, he argued, it 
 could not be familiar unless he had heard it before, 
 and that could only have been when he was in 
 Java, and as he was then little more than a baby, 
 only the names of places in the neighbourhood of 
 his birth place could have been familiar to him. 
 It mattered little to X. where he went, the 
 further away from the beaten track, the more 
 opportunity for studying the natives and learning 
 something of their lives. So he readily agreed to 
 go to Tjilatjap. It was only after all plans had 
 been settled that its evil reputation for fever was 
 heard of. 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 The first stage of the journey was to Tassimalaja, 
 and, leaving Garvet at two, they arrived there in 
 time for dinner. So far as could be judged from 
 a very brief stay during the dark hours and early 
 morning, this seemed a pretty little country town, 
 but the train left early and there was little time to 
 look about. The first important stop was at 
 Maos, where a change had to be made. Among 
 the passengers was an Englishman whom X. had 
 met some ten years before in New York. He 
 was going the orthodox round to Ojoedja and 
 Semarang. The two Englishmen, both ex- 
 perienced travellers, exchanged views as to their 
 respective impressions of Java, and both 
 96 agreed that, wherever they went, the courtesy and 
 assistance received equalled if they did not 
 exceed any they had met with in other portions 
 of the globe they had trotted over. At Maos 
 their ways separated, though fate brought them 
 together again on board the steamer to Singapore. 
 Another companion of the journey was a 
 versatile young Dutchman who spoke many 
 languages and proved to be very good company. 
 This gentleman apparently had no great admir- 
 ation for his fellow-countrymen, as he saw them 
 in Java. He abused with equal impartiality the 
 food and the manner of life, and declared that the 
 Dutch in Java were devoid both of digestion and 
 energy. They were in fact half dead from bad 
 food and too much sleep. This communicative 
 
 4 
 
THE QUEST FOR A MOTHER. 
 
 companion also gave his views on the civil service, 
 which had gradually grown from the stage, when 
 anyone could be pitchforked into it, to its present 
 condition, when both brains and interest are 
 required to achieve the entry to its rank. Let a 
 man once get in (the views are those of the 
 communicative Dutchman), his fortune was made, 
 if he only kept quiet and was satisfied to slip along 
 in the common groove. He must implicitly follow 
 prescribed rules and obey his immediate superior 
 blindly, sinking all individual conscience and 
 identity. Should he have views for his own self- 
 advancement or to assist the people, should he 
 economize Government money and reduce the 
 number of road-coolies or police, who actually ^' 
 officiate in the household as cooks, gardeners, or 
 grooms, should he try to set a good example and 
 relinquish perquisites, " that man " exclaimed the 
 speaker " is lost, and had better return to Holland 
 forthwith." Such were the views of his travelling 
 companion, but what opportunity he had had for 
 forming them, and whether they were justified by 
 actual facts, X. did not know, or greatly care, so 
 long as he found his company amusing, which he 
 did until their arrival at Tjilatjap. Here his 
 opinion was somewhat modified, when his voluble 
 companion, profiting by superior experience, 
 annexed the only decent room in the hotel and 
 exulted over the ruse which secured it for him. 
 When X. first announced in the train that he 
 
 H 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 was bound for Tjilatjap there was a chorus of 
 exclamations, and his companions evidently 
 thought him eccentric. Had he also explained 
 his reason for going, there would have been little 
 doubt on the subject. It was then he learnt that 
 Tjilatjap had formerly been a garrison town, but 
 it had been found necessary to abandon it on 
 account of the high rate of mortality among the 
 troops. It was not till after the change at Maos 
 that the young Dutchman acknowledged that 
 Tjilatjap was also his destination, being probably 
 unwilling to appear eccentric in the eyes of his 
 fellow-countrymen who remained in the Djoeja 
 carriage. 
 
 98 
 
THE QUEST CONTINUED— TJILATJAP. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE QUEST CONTINUED — TJILATJAP. 
 
 TjiLATjAP was reached at midday. The town had 
 an imposing appearance, all the streets being 
 planted with avenues of large trees. X. drove at 
 once to the hotel, where he was given a room like 99 
 a horse-box with the sun streaming into it. As 
 mentioned above, he subsequently ascertained 
 that his travelling companion had managed to 
 secure the only decent room in the hotel, and X. 
 did not feel any love for the stranger, who had 
 taken what he felt to be an unfair advantage of 
 his local innocence. He only wished he could 
 hand him over to the tender mercies of the most 
 muscular and irritable member of the civi 
 service, after relating how he had libelled it. 
 There was lunch lying ready spread on the table 
 and its appearance was satisfactory. Next day he 
 noticed that this meal was laid hot at 9.30 daily, 
 and left cooling until far on in the afternoon. 
 Being hungry, the distant view of the table looked 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 inviting, and X. prepared for a hearty meal. But 
 his joyful expectation gave way to something like 
 disgust on discovering, what a nearer approach 
 revealed, that each article of food was firmly 
 congealed in its own gravy. But no one else 
 seemed to mind, and a party opposite — father, 
 mother and daughter — ate of these provisions as 
 though they were delicacies hot from the kitchen 
 of the Savoy or Bignon's. Strolling out a little 
 later to smoke a cigarette and try to persuade 
 himself he had lunched, the visitor spied the 
 proprietor of the hotel, his family and some 
 favoured guests, enjoying cakes, and what appeared 
 to be Madeira, and fruit in the verandah. As 
 100 sleep in that sunbaked oven of a room was 
 impossible, the traveller sent for a carriage and 
 went for a drive. The appearance of all the 
 houses that he passed gave the idea that every 
 one inside them was asleep, but their stillness 
 was counterbalanced by the busy crowds of 
 natives going to and fro along those avenues 
 of wonderful trees. 
 
 Later in the day X. sallied forth to call on the 
 Assistant Resident. He had been informed at the 
 hotel that this official was not visible between the 
 hours of II a.m. and 7 p.m. — rather a long period 
 of retirement. 
 
 As it was growing dark X. walked up to the 
 house, a far superior residence to the one at 
 Garvet. The lady of the house and her family 
 
THE QUE5T C ONTINUED— TJILATJAP. 
 
 were starting for the evening drive, not daring 
 to venture out before this late hour. The 
 Assistant Resident, apparently a very young man, 
 received his visitor with great cordiality and gave 
 him all the information in his power, promising 
 his assistance if he wished to go further up 
 country. It should be stated that, arrived at 
 Tjilatjap, Usoof s memory received a filip, and he 
 recollected that the town of Jombong, not far off, 
 had been the chief place near his " kampong." 
 On hearing this, the Assistant Resident promised 
 to send a letter to the Wodena or native magis- 
 trate of the village, who lived at Soempioet and 
 could let him stay in his house. This exactly met 
 the wishes of X., who had been only wanting an 101 
 opportunity to see more of the native life in Java, 
 away from the track of hotels and tame curio 
 sellers, who differed but little in one town from 
 another. While the traveller was paying this 
 call, another visitor arrived. This was no less a 
 personage than the President of the Landraad. 
 After they had left, he hospitably invited the 
 Englishman into the club, where they played 
 billiards. The great man made himself most 
 agreeable and was quite ready to impart to his 
 companion all he might wish to hear about the 
 duties of the local government officers. He learnt 
 that the Assistant Resident exercised a very 
 limited jurisdiction as magistrate, and all cases, 
 excepting the most trivial, are brought before the 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 Landraad. The post held by this cheery official 
 was evidently most congenial, and he explained 
 with much satisfaction how he had to be 
 frequently travelling, and what a liberal allowance 
 he could draw while doing so. It need be liberal, 
 thought his hearer, to compensate for a course of 
 feeding in Java hotels. But sympathy on this 
 point was wasted, as the President of the Landraad 
 alluded to the one, at which it appeared they were 
 both staying, and spoke of it as comfortable. 
 Billiards over, it was time to return to the hotel 
 for dinner. This meal, probably more owing to 
 the lamp-light than to any inherent superiority, 
 seemed an improvement on the last one, had not 
 102 the diners made it unnecessarily uncomfortable by 
 treating it as though it were a hurried snack at the 
 counter of a railway refreshment room. For in- 
 stance, three or four times during the progress of 
 the meal callers came to see the courteous Presi- 
 dent, who cheerfully left the table to interview 
 them, returning with equanimity to the discussion 
 of the chilled dishes at whatever stage of the feast 
 he chanced on when he returned. The table was 
 not cleared away after the sorry farce of dinner 
 was over, and X. noticed, as late as ten and 
 even half- past ten o'clock, late diners strolling 
 in to feed on the ever less appetising remains. 
 X. recalled the words of his companion in the 
 train, and thought he at least had some justifica- 
 tion for his remarks on the digestions, or 
 
THE QUEST CONTINUED— TJILATJAP. 
 
 the want of them, of his fellow-countrymen in 
 Java. 
 
 The chief thing for intending travellers in 
 Java to recollect is the difficulty of obtaining 
 money, since no one will look at a cheque, as 
 people in that country do not use them. It is 
 necessary, therefore, to take ready money and 
 rely upon periodical remittances sent by regis- 
 tered letter from the bank. At Garvet X. had 
 his first experience of pecuniary trouble through 
 having placed confidence in his cheque book, 
 backed by the special permit signed by the 
 Governor General of the Netherlands India. He 
 had invested in some Java ponies and thus 
 outrun all calculations as to expenditure. The 103 
 hotel people would not look at his cheque, though 
 they certainly looked at the owner of it with the 
 careful scrutiny born of suspicion. Very troubled, 
 he had called at all the chief shops and places of 
 business in the town asking assistance, and 
 assuring merchants of his bona fides, as they 
 scanned his cheque and passed it from one to 
 another as a curiosity such as none of them had 
 ever seen before. At length good fortune 
 appeared in the shape of a Mr. Schmidt. One 
 of those who had endeavoured to grasp some 
 meaning from the cheque, explained that he 
 believed this kind of thing was seen in Europe, 
 and they had better call Mr. Schmidt, who not 
 only had been there within the last two years, but 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 also spoke a little English. X. eagerly seconded 
 the suggestion, and Mr. Schmidt appeared. His 
 verdict was anxiously awaited, but especially by 
 the owner of the cheque, whose future move- 
 ments must depend on the decision, and his relief 
 was great when the good, the discerning, the 
 up-to-date Mr. Schmidt pronounced in his favour. 
 He declared that, certainly he had seen such 
 cheques before, and generously offered to cash it 
 himself. Thus the situation was saved, and the 
 stranger was able to carry out his arrangements 
 and pay his debts. Good Mr. Schmidt ! that 
 stranger remembers you with gratitude. Here, 
 in Tjilatjap, X. was again threatened with 
 penury, for, though he had telegraphed for 
 money, the little registered packet had so far 
 not appeared. Perhaps his bankers could not 
 really credit that he had gone to a place with 
 such a reputation as Tjilatjap. But it was 
 because of this reputation that X. was unwilling 
 to prolong his stay there beyond what was 
 actually necessary, and, therefore, sending off the 
 Malays with the luggage, remained behind, rely- 
 ing upon the arrival of the money by the 
 morning post. He utilised the opportunity of 
 this enforced stay to visit the hospital. The 
 hospitals in the Native States of the Peninsula 
 are perhaps the chief signs of the civilization, of 
 which their Government may be proud, seeing 
 that in them natives of all nationalities are 
 
THE QUEST CONTINUED— TJILATJAP. 
 
 splendidly housed and have the best of medical 
 attendance free. It was, therefore, interesting 
 for the Englishman who hailed from that Penin- 
 sula to see how, in a large town like Tjilatjap in 
 Java, these things were done. 
 
 He had the good fortune to be most courteously 
 shown over the building by the doctor in charge. 
 It was somewhat of a surprise to find that there 
 were few patients in the hospital, notwithstand- 
 ing the reputation of the place for fever, and to 
 learn that the average number of sick amongst 
 the natives was not noticeably in excess of other 
 towns. 
 
 The whole building was a picture of neatness 
 and cleanliness. The walls were made of bertam ^^^ 
 (a kind of plaited reed) so as to be easily 
 destroyed and replaced in case of infection. The 
 floors were of cement and raised off the ground. 
 This hospital has only been started two years, 
 and, at the present time, possesses fifty beds. 
 The bathing places in particular merited atten- 
 tion, the floors being tiled, while large tanks of 
 brick and cement contained the water supply — 
 baths are provided for feeble patients. The most 
 elaborate building was the dead-house, where all 
 the latest improvements were to be seen. There 
 was, and is, a European ward where patients can 
 be treated for three guilders a day. Another 
 building, standing a little apart, was for Euro- 
 peans of a better class who could afford to pay 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 six guilders a-day, " but," the doctor added, 
 *' they never come." The hospital is free for all 
 natives, and, contrary to what is frequently the 
 case elsewhere, the authorities seem to experience 
 no difficulty in inducing them to go there. The 
 doctor has one assistant to help him in managing 
 the hospital. He spoke very highly of the native 
 dressers, and said that they frequently turn out 
 well. To X., accustomed to see similar hospitals 
 crowded with Chinese, it was curious only to 
 find one in the whole hospital, and he was 
 the cook. 
 
 After his visit to the hospital the traveller went 
 to the post office to ask if his registered letter 
 106 had come, and was considerably depressed to find 
 that, though the post had arrived, there was no 
 letter 'by it for him. There was nothing to be 
 done but to accept the information and return to 
 the hotel and think it out. He was alone — 
 servants and luggage had gone, and some ten 
 guilders of money only remained. Where could 
 he find a local Schmidt. The landlord suggested 
 that perhaps the people at the Factory might 
 change his cheque. X. was not certain, but 
 believed the Factory to be the name for the 
 offices of the chief trading firm in Java. Acting 
 on this advice, he took a carriage and drove 
 there. The haughty young gentleman who 
 presided behind the counter received him sus- 
 piciously, and at once disdainfully and very 
 
THE QUEST CONTINUED— TJILATJAP. 
 
 firmly refused to have anything to do with the 
 cheque, which he turned over and over in his 
 fingers as though it might bite him, and then 
 returned to its owner. 
 
 Bowed out and baffled, the traveller returned 
 to his hotel. The situation was now growing 
 serious, for the train to Soempioeh went in half- 
 an-hour, and, after paying his bill, there would 
 be no money for the fare, even could he start 
 penniless. As a forlorn hope X. sallied forth in 
 the sun to pay one more visit to the post-offlce. 
 This building was closed, and the hard-worked 
 officials had retired to their private apartments 
 in the back premises. Bold to desperation, the 
 visitor skirted round the post-office and peered 10' 
 into the privacies beyond. Seeing an open door 
 he walked in, and found the chief official in his 
 shirt sleeves partaking of his midday meal. 
 With profuse apologies for his intrusion, X. stated 
 his anxiety about his remittance, and rather 
 feebly asked the officer if he were "quite sure" 
 the letter had not come. " Quite sure," 
 grumbled the official in excellent English, " but 
 to satisfy you I'll let you come and look yourself." 
 X. almost begged him not to take what surely 
 must be superfluous trouble, but, luckily, 
 refrained, and accompanying the officer into the 
 post-office, walked towards a pile of papers 
 stacked in pigeon-holes. "There," exclaimed 
 his guide, "see — see for yourself"; and he did, 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 for on the top lay a blue envelope duly registered 
 and addressed to himself. 
 
 Thus the hotel bill was paid, and he caught 
 the train to Soempioeh. There he was met by 
 Abu and messengers from the Wodena, who 
 accompanied him to that officer's house. 
 
 108 
 
THE QUEST SUCCESSFUL. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE gUEST SUCCESSFUL — THE WODENA's HOUSE. 
 
 The Wodena's house was a comparatively large 
 building made with alang-lalang walls,* and the 
 floor on a level with the ground. The entire 
 front of the house was open, though the over- 
 hanging eaves of the roof kept out the glare. In ^09 
 the foreground three tables with corresponding 
 chairs were ranged stiffly, as though in a hotel 
 verandah. In one corner was a little cupboard 
 kind of compartment, which X. found was his 
 bedroom. 
 
 There was no attempt to cover the floor of bare 
 earth with mats, as would have been the case in 
 even poor Malay houses. At the back of the one 
 large sitting room stood an imposing long table. 
 The outlook of the house was on to some untidy 
 waste land covered with long grass — rather an 
 unusual sign of slovenliness in a country of such 
 universal neatness. Close by a new house was 
 in course of construction for Government use. 
 * Plaited grass. 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 This building had the somewhat strange com- 
 bination of alang-lalang walls and a tiled roof. 
 The host who welcomed X. to his house was, as 
 has been said, the Wodena, or local head native 
 magistrate. A Malay in such a position would 
 most certainly have had a courteous manner and 
 have probably been an agreeable companion. This 
 official, though he evidently intended to be 
 cordial, was awkward and seemingly stupid. He 
 also spoke bad Malay, and seemed an ill-educated 
 man for such a position. He wore a terrible old 
 sun-helmet on his head, and presented a 
 grotesque appearance. 
 
 After having tea his host took X. for a walk 
 110 round to show him the place, and all the people 
 crouched on the ground as they passed. The 
 followers in uniform walked after them, occasion- 
 ally shouting at those who did not promptly go 
 to earth, while hurrying their movements with 
 insinuating prods from the poles of office. The 
 few Chinese who were met, bowed low like ladies 
 to a royalty, which was a somewhat startling 
 experience to X., so recently from Singapore, 
 where Chinamen jostle Europeans from the side 
 walks and puff bad tobacco in their faces as they 
 pass. Apropos of this it might be mentioned 
 here that a high Dutch official in Java stated 
 that he considered that the way the Chinese in 
 Singapore were allowed to treat the Europeans 
 was " nothing less than a disgrace to civilization." 
 
THE QUEST SUCCESSFUL . 
 
 In the Singapore local press at the time of 
 writing there is now appearing a series of 
 indignant letters from a Chinaman in Selangor 
 who signs himself as " Speaking Pig Tail." 
 This scribe complains to " Mr. Editor " that he 
 has not the same rights as a European. I 
 wonder what " Speaking Pig Tail " would say to 
 the above-mentioned Dutch official. 
 
 However these particular Chinese in Soempioeh 
 bowed many inches low to the Wodena, while X. 
 with bland self-consciousness appropriated a 
 certain length to himself as the only white man 
 in the place. 
 
 This walk at Soempioeh was full of interest, 
 and the Wodena kindly replied to the best of his 111 
 ability to all the questions asked. The whole 
 country round was one vast expanse of padi, 
 valleys and hills alike so far as the eye could 
 reach, and it seemed to X. that no population 
 could be sufficiently dense to consume such an 
 apparently unlimited supply, but the Wodena 
 assured him that none was ever exported. The 
 town presented a busy scene of great activity, as 
 there was evidently a country fair in full swing, 
 and rows of people lined the roadside selling 
 quaint cakes and fruit, and here and there a stall 
 was gay and sweet-smelling with little heaps of 
 gathered rose leaves and yellow blooms of 
 fragrant chimpaka. The Wodena and his 
 visitor called on the chief Chinese of the town, 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 of which race he informed him there were two 
 hundred all told. These people scarcely resem- 
 bled the Chinamen as known to X., since they had 
 all been born and bred in the neighbourhood, 
 and not one of them had experience of life beyond 
 the island of Java. The head Chinaman pro- 
 duced various curios — so considered — for inspec- 
 tion, these being sent for from the pawn-shops 
 close by. The Wodena volunteered the 
 information that large quantities of opium were 
 consumed in the district. This meant, as there 
 were no Chinese, the habitual use of this 
 drug amongst the people. After this walk the 
 little procession wended its way back to the 
 112 Wodena's house. Dinner that night proved a 
 weird meal, as Usoof, who cooked, had gone to 
 the neighbouring village of Tambak, where he 
 found his mother dwelt, and Abu, who had never 
 cooked anything more complicated than rice, 
 tried his 'prentice hand. The next day was 
 Sunday, and the weekly fair was at its height till 
 twelve noon. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of 
 people were packed tightly together, line after 
 line, under little sheds, selling sarongs and cloths 
 of every conceivable colour, with hats, mats, and 
 native ornaments of all descriptions. It was an 
 animated scene, and one not easily forgotten, and 
 this was the first time, if the Wodena was to be 
 believed, that any white man had seen it. Be 
 that as it may, or perhaps as it may not, X. 
 
THE QUEST SUCCESSFUL. 
 
 allowed himself the satisfaction of believing that 
 it was the first time that any Englishman had 
 seen it. 
 
 After the fair the traveller returned home, and 
 there received a visit from Usoof and his mother. 
 He had found her, and the object of his journey 
 to Java was accomplished. It appears that he 
 had met her while walking along a path by the 
 river, which his awakened memory recalled 
 would lead him to his home. And she, noting 
 his unusual dress and stranger-like appearance, 
 stopped to ask whether he had any news of her 
 son who many years ago had gone away to 
 Singapore, and to whom she had so frequently 
 written, receiving no reply. She feared he was 
 dead, but as the kind stranger came from foreign 
 parts it was possible that amongst the colony of 
 Javanese in Singapore he might have heard of her 
 long-lost son. 
 
 Such was the meeting, and a dramatic and 
 successful climax to what had seemed a somewhat 
 forlorn quest. Had I the pen of a Swettenham 
 or a Clifford, those sympathetic spinners of 
 delightful tales of a race whose childish faith so 
 lends itself to story, I might here find material 
 for pages of a charming romance. But in reality 
 there was little romance about Usoof, rather a 
 sturdy honesty and affection, as he brought his 
 poor mother in her humble attire and presented 
 her to his Tuan, who, at that moment, bored to 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 death by his kind host, who would not cease to 
 entertain him by sitting by him in attentive 
 silence, would have welcomed any diversion as 
 a boon. 
 
 But the poor lady, according to the custom of 
 the country, could only prostrate herself outside 
 the house nor venture nearer than some dozen 
 yards, probably regarding her new-found son, who 
 stood upright, as some knave who courted death. 
 
 This system of obeisance had been rather 
 embarrassing to X., since all the retainers of his 
 host stooped low and crept about while his own 
 attendants had maintained their usual attitudes 
 with occasional lapses from the perpendicular. 
 ^^^ For there had been intervals over night when, 
 realizing his conspicuous position, Abu had 
 wandered about awkwardly doubled up, and 
 offered cigarettes and liquid refreshment from 
 somewhere among the legs of the table, startling 
 his master by his sudden cat-like appearance in 
 unexpected places, while there was that in his 
 eye which said, " Do not expect this sort of thing 
 to continue when we get you home." 
 
A VILLAGE HOME IN JAVA. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 A VILLAGE HOME IN JAVA. 
 
 To Usoof and his mother the great Wodena 
 was kindness itself, and conversed with them in 
 Javanese with much affability. X. wishing to 
 see a real country village, and obtain speech 
 with its people, away from the all-subduing eye H^ 
 of the local authority, promised to go that after- 
 noon and visit the good lady in her ancestral 
 home, and a few hours later he took the train for 
 the next station, Tambak. No European had 
 ever done such a thing before apparently, and 
 there was quite a fuss at the station to find a first 
 or even a second-class ticket. And during the 
 search the railway officials displayed the most 
 naive curiosity, and questioned the traveller 
 without restraint. Arrived at Tambak X. 
 descended, and immediately the station-master 
 hurried forward and politely assured him that he 
 had made a mistake, since Gombong, the large 
 town, was the next station but one. He 
 obviously could not believe it possible that any 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 European should get out at Tambak on purpose, 
 and regarded the polite insistence of X. that he 
 knew where he wanted to go as evidence of some 
 sort of want of sanity, to be passed over as harm- 
 less. Gesticulating and ejaculating, the worthy 
 gentleman collected quite a little crowd of gazers 
 as the white man, followed by Usoof, sauntered 
 out of the station. Once out of sight, the station- 
 master would have been intensely gratified to see 
 X., who did not really in the least know where he 
 was going, turn round and ask his follower the 
 way. So they branched off to the left and wended 
 their route along the banks of a noisy river, 
 beneath the shade of huge trees which formed an 
 H^ avenue by the side of the water. On their right 
 lay the endless padi fields of early green and 
 ripening gold, all equally shimmering in the sun. 
 This combination of ripe padi, side by side with 
 newly sown, forms a striking feature of Javanese 
 agriculture. While gazing upon this warm 
 picture, and congratulating himself that someone 
 had had the forethought to plant this pleasant 
 row of trees, the voice of Usoof from the rear 
 announced that they must now turn to the right. 
 To turn to the right naturally meant to go across 
 that sunlit plain. The hand of X. involuntarily 
 went up to his stiff stand-up collar, and though 
 he could not see the face of his attendant, he was 
 aware through his back that he smiled. So 
 climbing a rustic stile they branched off to the 
 
A VILLAGE HOME IN JAVA. 
 
 right and walked across the padi, where the lurid 
 light was zigzagging above the corn. Presently 
 the red roofs of a village were in sight, and once 
 more the voice of Usoof spoke to introduce his 
 birthplace. This was interesting, as was the 
 additional information that the little river they 
 had now to cross was the boundary of his 
 ancestral land. The house they had come all this 
 way to see was deep in the shadow of countless 
 fruit trees, over which towered palms of consider- 
 able age. The green turf so scrupulously neat, and 
 the little group of buildings set round the central 
 house, all combined to make a picturesque scene. 
 
 In the front of these cottages, on the green 
 turf, was the reception house — a square building, ^ 17 
 surrounded by benches with a table in the middle. 
 
 Here the stranger was escorted by a crowd of 
 Javanese, cousins and sisters and brothers and 
 aunts, without number — for it seemed less of a 
 family than a tribe which had come together to 
 do him honour. Then the guest was seated in 
 the place of state, and fruit of many kinds in 
 large brass dishes was set before him. It was 
 truly a pleasant spot, and there was additional 
 satisfaction in the thought that with so little to 
 guide them they had been able to light upon it 
 without lengthy search. Then ensued a conversa- 
 tion, during which the visitor learnt and imparted 
 many things. Amongst the former he heard that 
 once before, when the railway was being made, a 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 white man had been seen in the neighbourhood, 
 but the present occasion was the first, when the 
 village had beheld one close. And this stranger 
 told them of the Malays and his life amongst 
 them, and how their houses and customs 
 resembled theirs, while Usoof, alone venturing to 
 remain upright, acted as interpreter as a swarm 
 of young brown relations clasped his hands and 
 ruthlessly robbed him of his watch and chain, 
 his brass buttons, and all the loose coins in his 
 pockets. Then X., who has a material mind, 
 asked to see the title deeds of their lands, which 
 were produced and inspected, and they were 
 instructed how to proceed, so that when the time 
 118 came the absent Usoof, as the eldest son, should 
 obtain his fair share of the inheritance. Then, 
 as the shadows were lengthening, and the zigzags 
 on the padi had given way to a soft and mellow 
 light fanned by an evening breeze, X. gave the 
 signal to depart and announced that farewells 
 must be made. Hurrying over his own, he 
 wandered towards the river so that he might not 
 witness the anguish of the mother bereaved anew 
 of her long lost son, but he could not escape 
 hearing the sounds of sobs which arose behind 
 him. And the little procession of two — the 
 European with his limp collar, and the Javanese 
 bereft of all his finer}' — started once more across 
 the plain. But the procession grew and grew, as 
 one by one the fond relations hurried after it 
 
A VILLAGE HOME IN JAVA. 
 
 for one more glimpse or one more word for the 
 departing brother. Then the traveller began to 
 feel as near a brute as ever in his life before, and 
 suggested to Usoof that he should bid him good- 
 bye and return for good to the bosom of his 
 weeping family. But this he declined to do, and 
 at the rustic stile the actual parting came. 
 Arrived at the train, the good station-master 
 was still on the look-out and walking around as 
 though something unusual had happened, but, tired 
 and hot, X. parried his questionings with some 
 abruptness. But the interviewer was as per- 
 sistent as if he were on the staff of a London 
 evening paper, and after producing an inverted 
 wheelbarrow, which he offered X. as a seat, went 119 
 to his house for a whisky and soda — called by the 
 natives " Dutch water." After that walk in the 
 sun, his whole physical and nervous system 
 disorganized by the deglutition of strange fruits 
 and condiments, and by witnessing heartrending 
 family farewells, an unexpected whisky and soda, 
 when such a restorative had seemed as unobtain- 
 able as the very moon which was beginning to 
 appear, was welcome indeed. The station-master 
 was at once the master of the situation, and the 
 hitherto taciturn Englishman, his thirst assuaged 
 and his limbs at rest, became as communicative 
 as a star of the profession, and answered all 
 questions as fully and docilely as a willing 
 witness in the hands of his own counsel. 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 BACK TO THE JUNGLE. 
 
 Arrived at the house of the Wodena, the 
 traveller had to submit to more pumping, nor 
 would his host rest until he knew, or was per- 
 suaded he knew, each word which X. had written 
 120 in his letter of thanks to the Assistant Resident 
 at Tjilatjap. That night it was very hot, and it 
 was borne in upon the sleepless traveller that 
 he had exhausted the resources of the place. 
 Therefore at an early hour next morning his 
 miscellaneous fairings were packed, the cost of 
 his entertainment liberally repaid, and accepted 
 without demur, and the visitors, after earnestly 
 commending the picturesque little village at 
 Tambak to special official protection, departed 
 for the station. X. had intended to now perform 
 the usual round and visit the temples at Djaok- 
 jakerta, Solo and Semarang, but when almost in 
 the act of asking for his ticket, a spirit of revolt 
 infected him, and he rebelled at the thought that 
 he must go here and there just because all others 
 
BACK TO THE JUNGLE. 
 
 did, when his inclinations really called him 
 elsewhere, for his inclinations were bidding him 
 go back to the cottage in the hills, where the tea 
 and coffee grew. And so without hesitation he 
 took his ticket and sent a telegram to announce 
 his intended return. Bandong was to be the 
 first halting-place, which meant travel in that 
 crawling train from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and stopping 
 at twenty-eight stations on the way. There was 
 no first-class compartment and the seats of the 
 second-class were hard and narrow, and the 
 cramped space after the first few hours became 
 almost unbearable. Things looked brighter, the 
 guard flattered the hopes of passengers by asking 
 who would buy tickets for lunch at some halting- 121 
 place further on, so that he could telegraph for the 
 meal to be prepared. Hope is eternal, and 
 experience of Java hotels had not yet robbed the 
 traveller of the fond pleasure of anticipation. The 
 Swindon of the line was reached, and there, sure 
 enough, was a table spread with food. After the 
 first bite of the first dish X. realized sadly that 
 he had been done, since it V\^ould have been 
 impossible to make any impression on that meat 
 with aught less forcible than an axe. Thus, with 
 reluctance, his portion, albeit paid for in advance, 
 was relinquished, to be again paid for probably 
 and again to flatter and deceive some other 
 passing and hungry stranger. The remainder of 
 the journey proved agreeable, thanks to the 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 companionship of a young officer who, invalided 
 home from the Lomboh war, was en route to 
 Buitenzorg, where he Hved. This poor warrior 
 had undergone a time of much hardship, and 
 related how he and his men had slept shelterless 
 on the wet ground and for nights had nothing 
 but rice to eat. And this only half a day's 
 journey from the principal port in Java, and with 
 as much money collected for aid to the soldiers 
 as would have, if necessary, paid for the whole 
 cost of the war. This companion told many 
 interesting anecdotes of the war, and related 
 some almost incredible tales of the treachery and 
 ingratitude of the natives. 
 122 The Englishman also availed himself of this 
 opportunity for hearing something of social 
 etiquette in time of peace, and the unwritten 
 rules which guided those attending entertainments 
 where Dutch and natives met. As for instance, 
 when the Sultan of Djoedja gives a ball, each 
 official must stand upon a step, high or low, in 
 proportion to his rank, while the Resident is met 
 and escorted to the same lofty altitude as the 
 Sultan, on the top. 
 
 To the Governor-General, however, the Sultan 
 must do obeisance. 
 
 This might be a convenient place to mention 
 the great regard officially paid to caste. Reverence 
 for rank amongst the people is fostered and aided 
 by their rulers, and if a man of position is ever 
 
BACK TO THE JUNGLE. 
 
 suspected or accused so that inquiry becomes 
 necessary, it must take place with closed doors 
 and in private. 
 
 That night the party lay at Bandong (fresh from 
 reading the " Red Cockade " its language seems 
 the most descriptive). The train reached that 
 considerable town at dusk. Here the traveller 
 had the good fortune to again meet his friend the 
 President of the Landraad, and was introduced 
 by him to the Club. Being introduced to the 
 Club meant being separately introduced to every 
 member then in it, with that punctilious formality 
 which X. had observed in Batavia. The hotel at 
 Bandong was the best which the traveller had yet 
 visited, and, contrary to expectation, dinner was 123 
 warm and comforting. The others of the party, 
 however, Usoof and Abu, were not so fortunate, 
 for they had no means of getting anything to eat. 
 It was not permitted them to go out after dark 
 without lights, and they could not get lights. 
 Added to this it was raining hard. The hotel 
 apparently could not supply natives with food at 
 such an hour, and it was necessary for thern to go 
 and look for it. This sad story greeted X, when 
 his own dinner was done. But the kind Presi- 
 dent of the Landraad cut the knot of this dilemma 
 and soon provided a caterer, protector, and guide 
 for the hungry pair. 
 
 As usual next morning, the time fixed for the 
 train to leave was very early, and other trains 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 were starting too, and of these Abu selected the 
 one on the point of departure for Maos in which 
 to stow all the portable luggage — no small 
 amount — and this was only rescued as the train 
 was actually on the move. This, of course, 
 necessitated hurried action, making those who 
 hurried hot. Then the scene at the ticket window 
 was scarcely to be described. For a country 
 where, in public, such a gulf is fixed between 
 Europeans and natives, it is a strange thing to 
 find the one aperture for the purchase of tickets, 
 besieged by a serging clamouring throng of both 
 races, and no one had any idea of waiting his turn. 
 X. attemped to force his way to the little 
 124 window, but as he stopped to observe the rules of 
 the game, as played in civilized countries of the 
 West, he was each time passed over, when the 
 tickets were almost in his grasp. At length, 
 disgusted at having to take part in such a scene, 
 he retired. Then Usoof, with much insinuation 
 of elbows and words in Javanese (words such as 
 his mother may not have approved), managed 
 to obtain tickets just in time to catch the train. 
 This train duly landed them at the familiar little 
 station, where, as before, the ponies waited them 
 to carry them up that hill of wonderful views. 
 At the station the traveller parted with his 
 companion, the invalid officer, after accepting a 
 kindly invitation to lunch with him at Buitenzorg 
 on his way through to Batavia. 
 
BACK TO THE JUNGLE. 
 
 No need to repeat myself in describing those 
 few extra days spent at the cottage in the hills. 
 And they also resembled the last ones in that 
 they went too quickly. 
 
 The hearty welcome received was, the visitor 
 liked to think, rendered even warmer by the 
 fact that he was able to assure his busy host that 
 the young tea plants had most certainly grown 
 a little in his absence. 
 
 The day soon came when X. was nearing the 
 limits of his leave and must start for Batavia. 
 The always early train reached Buitenzorg in 
 the morning, and there, where on his first visit 
 he had felt so lonely, the traveller was met by 
 his soldier friend and driven by him to the home 125 
 of his fiancee. That reception, and its pleasant 
 sequel of a a home-like lunch, is one of the most 
 agreeable of the recollections which X. now 
 preserves of the town. Though he felt inclined 
 to take the welcome all to himself, yet in his 
 heart he knew that it was in great manner due 
 to the fact that he was even remotely connected 
 with the safe return of one whom the household 
 considered as a son. 
 
 After lunch the host, bravely clad in uniform, 
 took his guest to see the barracks. These 
 buildings seemed as clean and comfortable as 
 could be expected in a tropical climate. The 
 extreme youth of some of the men was so notice- 
 able that the visitor could not but observe it, and 
 
FROM JUNQLE TO JAVA. 
 
 he learnt that this was accounted for by the fact 
 that they could enlist at the age of sixteen. 
 Another item of information was that one-third 
 of the army in Java was composed of people of 
 other nationalities. In the native corps there is 
 never any difficulty in obtaining recruits. 
 
 After inspecting the barracks a visit was made 
 to the gaol. This over they drove to the Club 
 for the much-needed refreshment of " Dutch 
 water '' with something in it. The Club was a 
 fine building, but there was no time left to enjoy 
 its luxurious lounges, and in a very short time X. 
 was bidding farewell to his good friend and 
 steaming once more towards Batavia. 
 1 26 Arrived in the capital, the traveller thought it 
 best to widen his experience by driving to an hotel 
 other than the one of electric light. This was 
 also a huge building at the end of a regular 
 street of rooms, all looking out on to the main 
 verandah. As this look-out provided the only 
 light, the majority of the occupants kept open 
 both doors and windows, and a walk along the 
 verandah was like some panorama of dressing in 
 all its stages. 
 
 The chief points about this hotel were the 
 usual ones — indifferent food, absence of privacy, 
 and horrible bathing arrangements. In Eastern 
 countries it is usual to find a bath-room attached 
 to the bedroom. In Java hotels people — ladies 
 as well as men — burdened with sponges and 
 
BACK TO THE JUNGLE. 
 
 towels, and some with soap, must cross a public 
 court-yard and wait their turn outside the bath- 
 room door. In this particular hotel the ordeal 
 was especially trying, since the bathrooms were 
 outside the office, and in the centre of a regular 
 street where people drove past arriving and 
 departing or calling on friends, and must perforce 
 gaze upon that little forlorn group of scantily- 
 clad humans on cleanliness intent. However, 
 this hotel remains to X. one of blessed memory, 
 since it was while there he was, through the 
 knowledge of the language, able to render some 
 slight service to two charming American ladies 
 who were courageously going round the world 
 alone. On the following day these ladies were 127 
 passengers on board the s.s. Godavery en route 
 for Hong Kong, Shanghai, Japan, Havaii, and all 
 the places in the world apparently, excepting, 
 alas ! that little one of Pura Pura. 
 
 That last evening there happened to be a 
 performance of an English circus, and X. went 
 there and laughed at the jokes of an excellent 
 clown — a cheery being whose like he had not 
 seen for many a long year past. Fancy a clown 
 in the jungle ! 
 
 The next day he reluctantly bade farewell to 
 the country where such a pleasant three weeks 
 had been spent, and embarking on board the s.s. 
 Godavery — his impedimenta increased by three 
 ponies — the traveller steamed again for Singapore. 
 
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA. 
 
 The day after his arrival there he started for 
 home, and some thirty-six hours later was once 
 more seated in his verandah, listening all alone 
 to the chanting songs of his Malay neighbours in 
 the plain below. The moon was bright, and 
 Pura Pura kept high revelry. 
 
 Those readers who have had the patience to 
 follow my friend through his short holiday may 
 leave him there — sighing perhaps with contented 
 discontent — an excuse for grumbling — while all 
 around is beautiful, and body and mind can revel 
 in long chairs and books galore. There is a 
 world perhaps, he thinks, where all are up and 
 doing, but — like his dreams — it is very far away. 
 128 Has he been to Java — he asks himself — has he 
 ever been anywhere beyond the edge of this green 
 turfed hill — to which are now ascending sounds 
 of happiness from poor villagers who live among 
 the padi fields, away there across the river, 
 dimly seen now when the moon is high ? And 
 has he helped to make them happy ? — did they 
 always sit singing there before he or others came, 
 or did they have to watch with Krises ready, 
 for fear of stealthy foes — foes who crept to 
 stab beneath the raised bamboo floors. Perhaps 
 he, too, has aided with his mite — perhaps — 
 who knows ? And as this thought occurs, the 
 discontent will fade, while content alone remains. 
 
 Long years has this exile lived in Pura Pura, 
 and then when he left it for a space — to redeem 
 
BACK TO THE JUNGLE. 
 
 a promise — he asked me to relate all that he did 
 and saw while thus away. From Jungle to 
 Java have I therefore followed him as a faithful 
 chronicler and my commission is ended. But it 
 should not be so, since there are tales of the 
 jungle and tales of Pura Pura all worth the 
 telling if what I think be true. For there, 
 where life moves slowly, the incidents, which 
 make it dwell, dwell so long that those who 
 watch may note and read. And though that 
 which they read, being of nature and mankind, 
 is necessarily an old, old story, yet is the frame- 
 work new, and thus with an interest all its own, 
 able to impart a lesson to those who sit at home 
 and speak with vague pity of peoples far away. 129 
 Perhaps our traveller — to whom such a name 
 must have seemed irony indeed — will one day 
 ask my assistance to relate certain chapters of 
 that life, brief glimpses of which have been 
 afforded the reader in this little sketch. 
 
. . . THE . . . 
 
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 Titles and Authors. 
 
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 Ready November the First, 1896. 
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 WITHOUT BLOODSHED .. .. Habold E. Gobst. 
 
 THAT CHARMING WIDOW ,. .. Clabencb Hamltn. 
 
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 THE DIAMOND SHOE BUCKLES .. Maby Albeet. 
 
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