CHAPTER I.

THE

HISTORY

OF

JAVA.

BY THE LATE

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES, F.R.S.

FORMERLY LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF THAT ISLAND AND ITS

DEPENDENCIES, AND PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY OF

ARTS AND SCIENCES AT BATAVIA.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. I.

SECOND EDITION.

LONDON:

JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET.

MDCCCXXX.

GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS,

ST. JOHN'S SQUARE, LONDON.

TO

HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS

THE PRINCE REGENT.

SIR,

The gracious permission which I have received to dedicate these volumes

to your Royal Highness, affords me an opportunity of interesting your

Royal Highness in favour of the amiable and ingenuous people whose

country they describe. The high respect they entertain for British

valour and justice, and the lively gratitude they retain for the

generous system of British Legislation, will, I am sure, give them a

strong claim upon your Royal Highness's good opinion.

To uphold the weak, to put down lawless force, to lighten the chain of

the slave, to sustain the honour of the British arms and British good

faith; to promote the arts, sciences, and literature, to establish

humane institutions, are duties of government which have been most

conspicuously performed during your Royal Highness's regency. For a

period of nearly five years, in which I have had the honour, as a

servant of the East India Company, to preside over a mild and simple

people, it has been my pride and my ambition to make known to them the

justice and benevolence of my Prince, whose intentions towards them I

could only fulfil by acting up to the principles of the Authority which

I represented, and by doing every thing in my power to make them happy.

* * * * *

To those who judge that the right to express their sentiments

requires no more than sincerity, or that their praise is of a value

to overbalance the disrespect of offering it, I shall leave the usual

language of dedications. Conscious that the assurances of respect and

of loyal attachment can never be offered to your Royal Highness by the

humblest British subject, without meeting a gracious reception,

I have the honour to be,

With profound veneration and respect,

SIR,

YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS'S

Most faithful and most dutiful servant,

THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES.

_London, June 1, 1817._

PREFACE

As it is possible that, in the many severe strictures passed, in the

course of this work, upon the Dutch Administration in Java, some of

the observations may, for want of a careful restriction in the words

employed, appear to extend to the Dutch nation and character generally,

I think it proper explicitly to declare, that such observations

are intended exclusively to apply to the Colonial Government and

its Officers. The orders of the Dutch Government in Holland to the

Authorities at Batavia, as far as my information extends, breathe a

spirit of liberality and benevolence; and I have reason to believe,

that the tyranny and rapacity of its colonial officers, created no less

indignation in Holland than in other countries of Europe.

For such, and all other inaccuracies, as well as for the defects of

style and arrangement which may appear in this work, an apology is

necessary; and in the circumstances under which it has been prepared,

it is hoped that an admissible one will be found. While in the active

discharge of the severe and responsible duties of an extensive

government, it was not in my power to devote much time to the subject:

the most that I could do, was to encourage the exertions of others,

and to collect in a crude state such new or interesting matter as fell

under my personal observation. I quitted Java in the month of March in

last year: in the twelve months that have since elapsed, illness during

the voyage to Europe and subsequently, added to the demands on my time

arising out of my late office, and the duties of private friendship

after an absence of many years, have made great encroachments; but

engaged as I am in public life, and about to proceed to a distant

quarter of the globe, I have been induced, by the interest which the

subject of these volumes has excited, and the precarious state of

my health, rather to rely on the indulgence of the public than on

the attainment of leisure, for which I must wait certainly long and,

possibly, in vain.

Most sincerely and deeply do I regret, that this task did not fall

into hands more able to do it justice. There was one[1], dear to

me in private friendship and esteem, who, had he lived, was of all

men best calculated to have supplied those deficiencies which will

be apparent in the very imperfect work now presented to the Public.

From his profound acquaintance with eastern languages and Indian

history, from the unceasing activity of his great talents, his other

prodigious acquirements, his extensive views, and his confident

hope of illustrating national migrations from the scenes which he

was approaching, much might have been expected; but just as he

reached those shores on which he hoped to slake his ardent thirst for

knowledge, he fell a victim to excessive exertion, deeply deplored by

all, and by none more truly than myself.

My acknowledgments are due to the Right Honourable Sir JOSEPH BANKS,

Bart., the venerable President of the Royal Society, for his kindness

and encouragement; and particularly so to Mr. CHARLES WILKINS,

Librarian to the East-India Company, as well as to Mr. WILLIAM

MARSDEN, for many suggestions, of which I regret that I have not been

enabled to avail myself so much as I could wish, in consequence of the

haste with which the work has been got up. I am also indebted to Mr.

THOMAS MURDOCH, not only for access to his valuable library, but for

illustrations from Portuguese authors, which the reader will find in

the Introduction and Appendix.

For all that relates to the Natural History of Java, I am indebted to

the communications of Dr. THOMAS HORSFIELD. Though sufficient for my

purpose, it forms but a scanty portion of the result of his long and

diligent researches on this subject. Of this, however, I am happy to

say, that the Public will shortly be able to judge for themselves.

In sketching the state of the Dutch East-India Company, and the

measures adopted by the Dutch government respecting Java, subsequently

to the year 1780, I have availed myself of much very valuable

information communicated to me by Mr. H. W. MUNTINGHE, President of

the Supreme Court of Justice at Batavia; and as, in the course of this

work, I have often been obliged to condemn the principles and conduct

of the Dutch colonists, I am anxious to acknowledge the distinguished

merit of this excellent magistrate, and that of Mr. J. C. CRANSSEN,

President of the Bench of Schepenen, both selected by the late EARL OF

MINTO to be members of the British Council in Java.

The English came to Java as friends. Holland had ceased to be an

independent nation, and for the time there could be but two parties,

the one English, the other French. The emissaries of the late ruler

of France had perverted the minds of the majority: many were doubtful

on which side they should rally. At this critical juncture these two

gentlemen declared for England and the ancient order of things; and

to the influence of their decision and conduct is to be ascribed,

not only the cordiality and good understanding which soon prevailed

between the English and Dutch, but in a great measure also that general

tranquillity of the country, without which the re-transfer of it to

the rule of its former masters might have been impracticable.

Of the wisdom and benevolence which determined the late EARL OF MINTO

to place two members of the Dutch nation at the Board of the British

Council in Java, it is unnecessary to speak. The measure was in the

same spirit which uniformly actuated that enlightened and virtuous

statesman, my revered patron and ever lamented friend. The selection

of the two gentlemen whom I have mentioned, was no less advantageous.

To their countrymen it was peculiarly so, and I am happy to have this

opportunity of publicly expressing my acknowledgments to them for the

good counsel, firm support, and unwearied exertions, by which they were

distinguished while members of the Board.

ORTHOGRAPHY.

The principles of Orthography, recommended by Sir WILLIAM JONES, and

adopted by the Asiatic Society at Calcutta, have been adopted in this

work, with some slight modifications. The consonants preserve the

same sounds generally as the same letters in the English alphabet:

the vowels are used as in Italian. To avoid confusion, the emphatic

syllables are alone accented, and the inherent vowel _a_ has invariably

been adopted.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Dr. J. C. LEYDEN, the bard of Tiviotdale, who accompanied the

expedition to Batavia in 1811, and expired in my arms a few days after

the landing of the troops.

ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR.

In reprinting the History of Java in its present form, the Editor feels

it necessary to say a few words. Though the first edition of this

work has been honored with extraordinary success, and has long been

exhausted, so that copies have become rare, yet Sir STAMFORD RAFFLES

always considered it as a hasty production, requiring great alteration

and improvement; and if it had pleased God to prolong his course

of usefulness in this world, he would have bestowed upon it those

corrections and additions which he thought it required.

The present Editor has only ventured to add a few short notes which

she found prepared by Sir STAMFORD, and to omit, according to his

intention, the larger part of the comparative vocabularies, retaining

only a hundred words in each language.

The additional plates were prepared some years ago, for a second

quarto edition: they are now published, with those belonging to the

first edition, in a separate quarto volume, detached entirely from the

present work.

For the drawings from which the engravings of the antiquities are

made, Sir STAMFORD was indebted to Lieut.-Colonel BAKER, of the East

India Company's service; and the present Editor is happy to have this

opportunity of acknowledging the obligation, as well as her thanks, for

many kind intentions to aid her in reprinting this history.

On the subject of the plates which originally accompanied the quarto

edition, Sir STAMFORD stated in the Preface to that edition, p. ix,

as follows: "The plates which accompany this work, not otherwise

distinguished, are from the graver, and many of the designs from the

pencil of Mr. WILLIAM DANIELL, who has devoted his undivided attention

in forming a proper conception of his subject, and spared neither time

nor exertion in the execution."

The Editor has only to add, that the size of the map of Java rendered

it impossible to unite it with the present edition of the History,

it is therefore added to the engravings; and it is also prepared for

separate circulation.

SOPHIA RAFFLES.

_High Wood,

Dec. 31, 1829_.

INTRODUCTION.

The first arrival of the Portuguese in the Eastern Islands was in the

year 1510, when Alphonzo de Albuquerque first visited Sumatra. In the

following year, Albuquerque conquered the city of Malacca, and sent to

announce that event to those countries and islands which had traded

thither, inviting them to continue their intercourse, and promising

them protection and encouragement[2]. To Java and the Moluccas he sent

Antonio de Abrew, having, however, previously prepared the way by a

Moor or Mahomedan, of the name of _Nakoda Ismael_, who was trading in

a merchant vessel. Antonio de Abrew sailed on his mission with three

vessels, and took with him several Javans and Malayus who had been

accustomed to trade with Malacca. The first port on Java at which

he arrived was the city of _Agacai_[3], and from thence he sailed

to Amboina, one of the Moluccas, where[4] he set up his padroes, or

pillars of discovery and possession, as he had done at every port at

which he had touched. One of the vessels was lost in a storm, but the

people were saved and carried by Abrew to a port in Banda to which

vessels then resorted for trade, and whither it was that the Javan

vessels used to go for cloves, nutmegs, and mace, which were carried to

that port by the natives of the Moluccas in their own vessels.

_Nakoda Ismael_ returning from the Moluccas with a cargo of nutmegs,

his vessel was wrecked on the coast of Java, near _Tuban_. The cargo of

the _Nakoda's_ vessel having been saved, Joam Lopez Alvrin was sent (A.

D. 1513) by the governor of Malacca with four vessels to receive it.

Alvrin was well received in all the ports of Java where he touched, but

particularly at _Sidayu_ belonging to _Páteh Unrug_, a prince who had

been defeated at Malacca by Fernan Peres.

The straits of _Sínga púra_[5] being infested by the cruisers of the

former king of Malacca, who had been expelled from his dominions by

the Portuguese in 1511, the straits of _Sában_ were the usual route of

the Portuguese vessels from Malacca to the Spice Islands, and in this

voyage they generally touched at the ports of Java.

About the year 1520 or 1521, Antonio de Britto, with six vessels

under his command, bound to the Moluccas, touched first at _Túban_

and proceeded afterwards to _Agacai_, where he remained seventeen

days, during which time he sent a boat to the island of _Madúra_,

for the purpose of exploring it; but the men landing incautiously

were surprised and made prisoners, and were not ransomed without much

difficulty, and the friendly intervention of the governor of _Agacai_.

Antonio de Britto had scarcely accomplished the ransom of his men, when

he was joined by Don Garcia Henriquez with four vessels bound to Banda

for spices, and at the same time a Javan vessel arrived from Banda.

This vessel had been furnished with a pass from the Spaniards, under

Fernan de Megalhaen, who having passed by the straits which bear his

name, had arrived at the Spice Islands. This was the first intelligence

which the Portuguese received of Megalhaen's discovery of the route

round the southern extremity of the American continent, and they were

the more mortified at it, as he had left his own country in disgust,

and was then in the service of Spain[6].

The first voyage made by the Dutch was in 1595, in which year their

first fleet, under the command of Houtman (who had been previously

employed by the Portuguese in the East India service), sailed direct

to Bantam. At this period the Portuguese were at war with the king

of Bantam, to whom Houtman offered assistance, in return for which he

obtained permission to build a factory at Bantam, which was the first

settlement formed by the Dutch in the East Indies.

Following the example of the Dutch, the English East India Company,

immediately after their incorporation by Queen Elizabeth in 1601,

fitted out a fleet of four ships, the command of which was entrusted to

Captain Lancaster, who sailed from London in 1602, first to _Acheen_

(_Aché_) on Sumatra, where he procured part of his cargo, and entered

into a treaty with the king, of which a copy is yet in existence.

From _Acheen_ he went to _Bantam_, and settled a factory there, which

was the first possession of the English in the East Indies. Captain

Lancaster brought home a letter from the king of Bantam to Queen

Elizabeth in 1602, which is still in the state paper office.

In 1610, the first Dutch governor general, Bolt, arrived at Bantam, and

finding the situation of his countrymen in that province not favourable

to the establishment of a permanent settlement, removed to _Jákatra_.

On the 4th of March, 1621, the name of _Batavia_ was conferred upon the

new establishment of the Dutch in _Jákatra_, which from that period

became the capital of their East Indian empire.

In 1683, the English, who had hitherto maintained a successful rivalry

with the Dutch, withdrew their establishment from _Bantam_.

In the year 1811, Holland having become a province of France, the

French flag was hoisted at Batavia; and on the 11th September, in the

same year, the British government was declared supreme on Java, by a

proclamation of that date signed by the Earl of Minto, Governor General

of Bengal. On the 17th of the same month, a capitulation was entered

into, by which all the dependencies fell into the hands of Great

Britain.

On the 13th August, 1814, a convention was entered into by viscount

Castlereagh, on the part of his Britannic Majesty, restoring to the

Dutch the whole of their former possessions in the Eastern Islands; and

on the 19th August, 1816, the flag of the Netherlands was again hoisted

at Batavia.

Without adverting to the political importance to Great Britain of the

conquest of Java, or to the great commercial advantages which both

countries might eventually have derived from its remaining in our

hands, I shall merely notice that the loss of it was no immediate

or positive evil to the Dutch. For many years prior to the British

expedition, Holland had derived little or no advantage from the nominal

sovereignty which she continued to exercise over its internal affairs.

All trade and intercourse between Java and Europe was interrupted and

nearly destroyed; it added nothing to the commercial wealth or the

naval means of the mother country: the controul of the latter over the

agents she employed had proportionally diminished; she continued to

send out governors, counsellors, and commissioners, but she gained from

their inquiries little information on the causes of her failure, and

no aid from their exertions in improving her resources, or retarding

the approach of ruin. The colony became a burden on the mother country

instead of assisting her, and the Company which had so long governed it

being ruined, threw the load of its debts and obligations on the rest

of the nation.

It might have been some consolation for the loss of immediate profit,

or the contraction of immediate debt, to know, that such unfavourable

circumstances were merely temporary; that they arose out of a state

of political relations which affected internal improvement, and that

the resources of the colony were progressively increasing, and would

become available when peace or political changes should allow trade to

flow in its former channels. Whether the Dutch could not indulge such

prospects, or whether the system on which the internal government of

their eastern dominion was conducted was in itself ruinous under any

circumstances, a view of the financial and commercial state of Java

before the conquest, and of the causes which led to the losses and

dissolution of the Dutch East India Company, will assist the reader in

determining.

In tracing these causes, it is hardly necessary to go further back

than the period of the Company's history immediately preceding the

war of 1780. The accidental calamities of that war brought it to the

brink of ruin, and its importance in the past transactions of the

country being borne in mind, a general concern existed in Holland

for its preservation, and for the restoration and maintenance of its

credit. With the view of affording it the most effective and beneficial

assistance, inquiries were set on foot, not only to discover some

temporary means of relief, but to provide a more permanent remedy for

threatened decline. It is impossible to ascertain what might have been

the result of the measures which were then in contemplation, as the

convulsed state of Europe, and especially of Holland, subsequently to

this period, left no room for their operation, and did not even admit

of making the experiment of their efficiency. The free intercourse

of the mother country with her colonies was interrupted; the trade

was thrown into the hands of neutrals; several possessions were lost

for the want of due protection, and those which remained were left to

support or defend themselves in the best way they could, without any

assistance or reinforcement from home.

For ten years preceding the year 1780, the average annual sales of

the Company amounted to upwards of twenty millions of guilders,

which was considerably more than in former years, and the prices of

the different articles were nearly the same as they had been from the

years 1648 to 1657, when the sales only amounted on an average to about

eight millions a year; it was therefore clear, that the decline of the

Company was not to be attributed to the decrease of trade.

On an examination of the Indian books, it was found, that from the year

1613 to 1696, the profits in India, though moderate, had always kept

equal pace with the profits in Europe.

------------------------+------------+------------+------------

From | To | To | To

1613 | 1653. | 1663. | 1673.

------------------------+------------+------------+------------

| Guilders. | Guilders. | Guilders.

The total profits were | 101,704,417| 142,663,776| 206,072,335

Expences | 76,177,755| 117,616,961| 161,271,745

------------------------+------------+------------+------------

Nett Profits | 25,526,662| 25,046,315| 44,330,590

------------------------+------------+------------+------------

------------------------+------------+------------

From | To | To

1613 | 1683. | 1693.

------------------------+------------+------------

| Guilders. | Guilders.

The total profits were | 259,250,969| 322,735,312

Expences | 212,282,020| 274,416,306

------------------------+------------+------------

Nett Profits | 46,968,949| 48,319,506

------------------------+------------+------------

Thus, on an average of forty years till 1653, the annual profits

were about 640,000 guilders a year;

Of fifty years to 1663 about 500,000 do.

Of sixty do. to 1673 750,000 do.

Of seventy do to 1683 670,000 do.

Of eighty do to 1693 600,000 do.

In the year 1696, the nett profit from the same year (1613) amounted

to only 40,206,789 guilders, being full eight millions less than it

had been in 1693, only three years preceding; and the average nett

annual profit from 1613 was reduced to 484,371 guilders. But from

1697 to 1779, comprehending a like period of eighty-three years, the

losses were so exorbitant as to overbalance and absorb, not only the

contemporary, but all the preceding profits in Europe, and even a large

amount of fictitious profit stimulated to screen the government in

India.

The nett amount of profits calculated from 1613, amounted

Guilders.

In 1697 to only 38,696,527

In 1703 31,674,645

In 1713 16,805,598

In 1723 4,838,925

In 1724 1,037,777

In 1730 there was already a total loss of 7,737,610, and in the year

1779 this loss amounted to 84,985,425.

The Company used to send yearly to India, before the commencement of

the war of 1780, twenty ships of about nine hundred tons each, and

eight or ten of about eight hundred tons each, which, to the number of

twenty-two or twenty-three, returned with cargoes: four from China,

three from Ceylon, three from Bengal, one from Coromandel, and twelve

or thirteen from Batavia. They annually exported to India provisions

and other articles of trade to the amount of two millions six or

eight thousand florins, and in cash from four to six millions, and

sold yearly to an amount generally of twenty or twenty-one millions;

and it was estimated that the Indian trade maintained, directly and

indirectly, all the external commerce of Holland, employing a capital

of about two hundred and sixty millions of florins.

From the inquiries of a commission appointed by the government of

Holland, in the year 1780, to ascertain the real state of the Company's

finances, and to report how far the nation would be warranted in giving

its further support to the credit of an institution which had so

rapidly declined, it appeared that in 1789, the arrears of the Company

amounted to seventy-four millions of florins, and that this amount had

since increased to eighty-four or eighty-five millions, of which sum no

less than 67,707,583 florins had been advanced by the nation.

The Commissioners, however, being of opinion, that the affairs of the

Company were not irretrievable, recommended a further loan of seven

millions of florins.

A meritorious servant of the Company, Mr. C. Tetsingh, had offered

to the Commissioners a memorial, in which he proposed that the

Company should abandon the trade to private merchants under certain

restrictions; but on this proposal the Commissioners stated that they

were not then prepared to offer an opinion.

This Commission, in reporting upon the manner in which the Company's

affairs had been managed in India, declared that "they could not

conceal the deep impression which the same had made upon their minds,

and that they could not fix their thoughts upon it, without being

affected with sentiments of horror and detestation...." "When," said

they, "we take a view of our chief possession and establishment, and

when we attend to the real situation of the internal trade of India,

the still increasing and exorbitant rate of the expenses, the incessant

want of cash, the mass of paper money in circulation, the unrestrained

peculations and faithlessness of many of the Company's servants, the

consequent clandestine trade of foreign nations, the perfidy of the

native princes, the weakness and connivance of the Indian government,

the excessive expenses in the military department and for the public

defence; in a word, when we take a view of all this collectively, we

should almost despair of being able to fulfil our task, if some persons

of great talents and ability among the directors had not stepped

forward to devise means by which, if not to eradicate, at least to stop

the further progress of corruption, and to prevent the total ruin of

the Company."

The improvements proposed by the directors extended to every branch of

the administration abroad. They proposed, first, with regard to the

Cape of Good Hope, the yearly arrears of which settlement had latterly

amounted to a million and a half of florins, that the same should be

reduced to one half of that sum. With regard to the further eastern

possessions, the measures proposed for consideration were chiefly the

following.

To confine the Company's future trade to opium, spices, pepper, Japan

copper, tin, and sugar, as far as the European and Japan markets

would require. To abandon the trade to Western India to the Company's

servants and free merchants, under payment of a certain recognition.

To abandon several factories in that quarter, and to reduce the

rest to mere residencies. To make considerable reductions in the

establishment on the coast of Malabar and in Bengal. To reduce the

establishments on the coast of Coromandel to three factories. To

abandon the establishments on the West coast of Sumatra, and to leave

it open to a free trade. To diminish the expenses at Ceylon by a

reduction of the military force, and by every other possible means to

animate the cultivation and importation of rice into that settlement.

To open a free trade and navigation to Bengal and Coromandel, under

the superintendence of the Company, on paying a certain recognition.

To encourage, by every means, the cultivation of rice in the

easternmost possessions, and especially at Amboina and Banda, for the

sake of preventing the inducements of a clandestine trade, which the

importation of rice to those places might afford. To abandon several

small factories to the eastward. To adopt a plan for the trade of

Malacca proposed by Governor De Bruem. To introduce a general reduction

of establishment at Batavia and elsewhere. To introduce new regulations

with regard to the sale of opium at Batavia. To improve the Company's

revenue, by a tax upon salaries and a duty upon collateral successions.

And finally, to send out commissioners to India, with full powers to

introduce a general reform in the administration.

In a memorial subsequently submitted by the Commissioners, which formed

the basis of all the measures recommended and adopted at this time, for

the better administration of affairs in India, after shewing that, from

the year 1770 to 1780, the Company had on the whole of its trade and

establishments on the coast of Coromandel, Bengal, Malabar, Surat, and

the western coast of Sumatra, averaged a profit of only 119,554 florins

a year, they recommended the introduction at Batavia of a public sale

of the spices, Japan copper, and sugar, wanted for the consumption of

Western India, and the establishment of a recognition of ten per cent.

on the piece goods from Bengal, and of fifteen per cent. on the piece

goods from Coromandel. Under such a plan of free trade, they calculated

that, after the diminution of the Company's establishments in Western

India, and the abolition of several small forts and factories to the

eastward, it was highly probable that the administration in India

would, in future, cover its own expenses, and thereby save the Company

from utter ruin.

It was on these calculations that the Commissioners appointed by the

States of Holland founded their hopes of the future relief of the

Company, and with these prospects they closed their report, the care

and future fate of the Company devolving from that time chiefly on the

Commissioners appointed at their recommendation to proceed to India, in

order to carry into effect, on the spot, the reforms proposed. Of these

new Commissioners, Mr. Nederburg, then first advocate to the Company,

was appointed the chief.

The Indian Commissioners sailed from Europe in the year 1791. At the

Cape of Good Hope they made such changes and reforms as may be said to

have fully effected the object of their commission. The importance,

however, of the Cape being comparatively small, it is not necessary to

enter into any detail of the measures adopted there. The more momentous

part of their trust was undoubtedly to be discharged in India, where

they arrived in 1793.

If the talents of these Commissioners were to be estimated by the

benefits which resulted from their labours, we may safely pronounce

them to have been incompetent to the task they had undertaken; but

such a criterion cannot with any justice be applied. A continuance

of peace with Great Britain was of course reckoned upon in all their

calculations, and war with that power broke out almost immediately

afterwards.

With regard to the abandonment of several forts and factories to the

eastward, to which their attention had been particularly directed, the

result of their deliberation and inquiry was, that the continuance

of the Company's establishment on Celebes was indispensable for the

protection of the Moluccas; that at Timor reductions had been made,

in consequence of which the revenues covered the expenses; that after

mature investigation the Japan trade was shewn to yield a nett profit

of 200,000 florins; that with regard to the West Coast of Sumatra the

revenues had been made to exceed the expenses, and the pepper collected

in that neighbourhood left still some profit to the Company.

With respect to the institution of public sales at Batavia for Japan

copper, spices, and sugar, on the introduction of which it was supposed

the establishments in Western India might be for the most part reduced,

they were of opinion, after deliberating with the Council of India, and

after a personal inquiry into the actual state of the private trade

at Batavia, that chiefly for the want of an adequate means among the

purchasers such sales were entirely impracticable, and that it would

therefore be preferable, after making some partial reductions in the

expense, to continue the establishment in Bengal and the coast of

Coromandel, but that Cochin on the Malabar coast might, perhaps, be

advantageously abandoned[7].

To determine the mode in which the trade with India should in future

be conducted, these Commissioners assumed a general calculation of the

receipts and disbursements which would occur at home and abroad, on the

supposition that the Company should, in future, navigate with hired

vessels only, and that all marine establishments should be abolished.

The result of this calculation was in abstract as follows. The estimate

may be considered as affording an interesting view of the hopes and

prospects which were at that time entertained of the resources of the

Eastern Islands.

The whole estimate was framed on the principles of monopoly, and with

a view to an increase of the trade on the one hand, and a reduction

of expenses on the other. The quantity of coffee stated at eighteen

million pounds, was calculated upon the produce which might be expected

after two years. In the calculation of the quantity of pepper, an

augmentation of 1,500,000 pounds beyond the produce of the preceding

year was anticipated, from the encouragement given to the growth of

that article in Bantam and other parts of Java. With regard to the

sugar, calculated at 8,000,000 of pounds for the home cargoes, it is

stated, that the actual deliveries

From Batavia at that time amounted to 6,000,000 lbs.

From Chéribon 500,000

From other ports in Java 1,000,000

---------

7,500,000 lbs.

---------

Supposing therefore the home cargoes 8,000,000 lbs.

The demand for Surat 3,500,000

For Japan 900,000

For the consumption of the Company's own

establishments 200,000

---------

The quantity required would be 12,600,000 lbs.

---------

Or 5,100,000 pounds more than the actual produce. The whole of that

quantity, however, the Commissioners felt confident might be produced

in three years, by encouraging the manufacture in the Eastern Districts

of Java. Among the retrenchments was a tax upon the salaries of all

civil servants, which reduced the average salary of each to the sum of

fifteen Spanish dollars per month.

ESTIMATED ACCOUNT OF THE COMPANY'S RECEIPTS AND

DISBURSEMENTS AT HOME AND IN INDIA,

_Exclusively of the direct Trade to China, upon the Plan of the

Commissioners of Inquiry_, A. D. 1795.

RECEIPTS.

Florins.

Public Duties 2,350,000

Freight on Company's vessels 50,000

Additional public revenues 400,000

Profits on Trade in India:--

Profit on opium 1,250,000

Ditto on 12,880 pikuls tin, at 26 rix-dollars per

pikul 228,000

Ditto on 5,000 lbs. Mace 43,000

Ditto on 15,000 lbs. Nutmegs 90,000

Ditto on 120,000 lbs. Cloves 420,000

Ditto on 730,000 lbs. Japan Copper 292,000

Total on Spices and Copper ------- 845,000

At Surat:--

On Sugar 190,000

On Camphor 10,000

On Tin 18,000

------- 218,000

In Japan, on divers Europe and Indian articles 76,000

---------

2,617,000

And for Sundries at the coast of Coromandel 33,000

--------- 2,650,000

For the produce of the Indian Returns in Europe:--

Coffee, 18,000,000 lbs., deduct Wastage, &c. is

16,000,000 lbs. at 8½ stivers per lb. 6,813,281

Pepper, 3,765,000 lbs., deducting Wastage,

&c. is 3,263,789 lbs. at 12 stivers

per lb. 1,958,273

Tin, 530,000 lbs. deducting Wastage, &c.

is 490,913 lbs. at 40 florins per cwt. 196,365

Cotton Yarn, 60,000 lbs., or nett

57,000 lbs., at 35 stivers per lb. 99,750

Indigo, 30,750 lbs. deducting Wastage,

&c. is 27,645 lbs. at 80 stivers per lb. 110,580

Sugar, 8,000,000 lbs. deducting Wastage,

&c. is 7,068,000 lbs. at 10 stivers

per lb. 1,767,000

Saltpetre, 1,650,000 lbs. deducting Wastage,

&c. is 1,285,350 lbs. at 30 florins

per cwt. is 385,605

Sappan Wood, 600,000 lbs. or nett

513,000 lbs. at 12 florins per cwt. 61,560

Cowries, 160,000 lbs. or nett 101,460 lbs.

at 8 stivers per lb. 40,584

Camphor, 64,000 lbs. or nett 56,344 lbs.

at 23 stivers per lb. 65,025

Cardamons, Java, 22,000 lbs. or nett

18,810 lbs. at 20 stivers per lb. 18,810

Tamarinds, 115,000 lbs. 43,700

Arrack, 140 leagers 46,000

Cinnamon, 400,000 lbs. at 5 florins per lb. 2,000,000

Cloves, 250,000 lbs. at 65 stivers per lb. 812,500

Mace, 110,000 lbs. 937,500

Nutmegs, 320,000 lbs. 561,000

Bengal Piece Goods 970,000

Surat do. do. 550,000

--------- 17,437,533

For Freight and Recognition on Private Trade 200,000

----------

TOTAL _Florins_ 23,087,533

----------

DISBURSEMENTS.

Florins.

For the Surplus Expenses at the Cape of Good Hope 150,000

For the same in Bengal 33,120

For the same at Surat 40,000

For the Military Expenses in India 2,571,314

For Salaries to Civil Servants 1,000,000

For Ammunition, &c, 100,000

For Fortifications and Repairs 400,000

For Sloops and minor Vessel 200,000

For Hospital Expenses 100,000

On Account of Confiscations 18,000

For Presents to Native Princes 32,000

Interest on Sums lent in India 100,000

For Stores and Goods shipped in India 200,000

For eventual Losses 100,000

For the Purchase of the Produce in India 4,519,400

For Insurance at five per cent. on the Money sent to India 212,700

For Freight on Returns of Homeward-bound Cargoes 3,300,000

Insurance and Risk of the Sea in India 200,000

For Freight of Tonnage in India 699,030

For Freight for 2,320 Men, to complete the Military and Civil

Establishment in India 219,240

For the Passage home of 450 men 28,350

Bounty Money to 2,020 military men 303,000

Premiums to 300 civil servants 60,000

Recognition to the Admiralty 360,000

Contribution to the same 500,000

Total Expenses of the Company's Establishments at home 1,000,000

Yearly Interest to be paid 4,758,000

Dividends at 12½ per cent. to the Holders of Stock 831,000

----------

22,035,154

Balance 1,052,379

----------

TOTAL _Florins_ 23,087,533

----------

These Commissioners seemed to entertain no very favourable ideas of the

benefits which would arise to private trade from the license it already

enjoyed. As a measure much more beneficial to the general trade of

Europe and to the Company, they proposed, in lieu of it, to throw open

to individuals, under certain restrictions, the trade and navigation

from Europe to Bengal and Coromandel.

Thus we see these Commissioners sent out with the view of introducing

something like free trade on Java, coming to a resolution to take away

from it even the little private trade which it had previously been

allowed to enjoy.

The Company's trade with continental India had already been so much

encroached upon by foreigners, that it was judged expedient no longer

to exclude the Dutch free trader from his share in the spoil; but it

was hoped, by increased strictness, to preserve entire to the Company

the exclusive trade in spices, Javan coffee, pepper as far as it was

the produce of her own possessions, Japan copper, the opium which was

consumed in Java and in the Moluccas, and Javan sugar.

The trade of the Dutch Company has thus been brought to the period,

when its monopoly was proposed to be almost exclusively confined

to Java and the Eastern Islands, including Japan. The causes which

operated to destroy the Dutch influence on the continent of India, are

too well known to require any particular description.

The Dutch had long maintained a decisive superiority, as well on the

continent of Asia, as among the Indian islands, until the active

exertions of their competitors in trade succeeded in undermining

and overturning their monopoly; and as it was natural their weak

side should suffer first, it was on the continent, where their

establishments were far removed from the chief seat of government, and

where they had not been able to insure to themselves those exclusive

privileges from the princes of the country which they had exacted from

the weaker princes of the Eastern Islands, that other nations, chiefly

the French and English, first endeavoured to introduce themselves.

After reciprocal jealousies had for some time prevented both nations

from making any considerable progress, a successful war at last turned

the scale entirely in favour of the English, whose influence, from that

period, has been paramount in continental India, and the Dutch East

India Company was no longer able to enforce its system of exclusive

trade there.

Without inquiring into the practicability of realizing the flattering

estimate made out by the Indian Commissioners, or the policy which

dictated a still more rigorous monopoly of the produce of the Eastern

Islands, it ought to be remarked, although it seems never to have

been adverted to by the Commissioners, whose calculations and plans

were exclusively of a commercial nature, that the original situation

of the Company as a mere mercantile body, looking out for trade and

not dominion, had undergone a material alteration, by the acquisition

it had made from the middle of the last century of considerable

territorial possessions, especially on the island of Java.

To use the words of one of the most enlightened men who now adorns his

country, and is prepared to give energy to a better state of things[8],

"these territorial acquisitions became to the Company a source of

new relations. In consequence of them, new rights were acquired and

obligations of a novel kind were contracted, as well with regard to

the territories themselves as the population upon them. The nature

of these rights and duties might have been deemed worth inquiry;

and as all these territorial acquisitions were made by a delegated

authority derived from the government at home, it was further worthy

of investigation how far the government itself was entitled to a

direct share in the acquisitions made, and how far it was bound to

controul and superintend the exercise of those duties which were newly

contracted. A consideration of these points would have led to the

important question, how far, on a renewal of the Company's charter,

it would be requisite to alter and modify its conditions according

to existing circumstances, and especially how far it would have been

expedient, in future, to leave the Company the exclusive trade, and at

the same time the uncontrolled sovereignty over the same country."

But however natural it may be, at the present moment, to consider

questions of this kind, it was perhaps at that time beyond the common

course of human thought to entertain doubts on the subject. From an

honourable regard for ancient institutions, the mercantile system of

the Company was still considered with reverence and respect; it had

been at all times the boast and pride of the nation; the services

which the Company had rendered to the state in its earlier days, and

the immense benefits which the government had been enabled, by its

means, to spread among the community at large, had rendered the East

India Company and all its privileges, objects of peculiar care and

tenderness. The rights of sovereignty which the Company afterwards

acquired, were obtained by degrees and almost imperceptibly. Every

acquisition of the kind had been considered, at the time, merely as the

means of increasing its mercantile profits, and all its territorial

rights were looked upon as subservient to its mercantile system.

In consequence of these ideas, after the whole of the northern and

eastern coast of Java had been added to the Company's territorial

dominions, by a cession in the year 1749, no step seems to have been

taken for improving these acquisitions, by any direct use of the

supremacy obtained. Some contracts were instituted with the native

chiefs, for delivering gratis, or at the lowest possible price, such

articles as would serve the Company's investments at home; but

taxation, the levy of produce, and the management of police and justice

in the inferior courts, were left to the care and conscience of the

natives themselves.

Arguments in favour of this system may perhaps be drawn from the

respect due to the native usages and institutions, and from a supposed

want of power, on the part of the Company, to assume any direct

controul over the native population. But whatever influence these ideas

may have had on the conduct of the Company, it may be affirmed that an

European government, aiming only to see right and justice administered

to every class of the population, might and ought to have maintained

all the native usages and institutions, not inconsistent with those

principles; and that the power, for want of which it withheld its

interference, would have been supplied and confirmed by the act of

exercising the power which it possessed, and by the resources it might

have been the means of drawing from the country.

Considering, therefore, the propensity inherent in every native

authority to abuse its influence, and to render it oppressive to the

population at large; the ascendancy of Europeans in general, even

over the class of native chieftains; the scantiness of many of the

establishments proposed in the plan of the Indian Commissioners;

the manifest inadequacy of the remuneration of the civil servants

which it recommended, and the narrow scale on which all expenses

were calculated; no very durable benefits could have been reasonably

expected from it. The discretionary power being left in the hands

of the native chieftains, the whole of the lower class of the

population would have remained at their disposal; the ascendancy of

the European servants would have subjected both to peculations, which

the insufficiency of their salaries would constantly have tempted

them to practice; the administration of justice not meeting with a

proper remuneration would have been ineffectual, perhaps corrupt;

the reduction of the military establishment would have left the

possessions an easy prey to the first invader; and the original sources

of the Company's revenues in India remaining the same, it seems

probable, that in a short time, the same scenes which had hitherto met

with so much reprobation, would have been acted over again, and to a

still more disgraceful extent.

But of whatever merit might have been the plans suggested by the

Commissioners in India on the 4th July, 1795, the calamities which had

already befallen the mother country were followed by an event, which

it seems the Commissioners had hardly dared to suspect, and which,

in every case, would have frustrated all their designs. This was the

dissolution of the Company, in consequence of a resolution taken to

that effect on the 24th December, by the body then representing the

government of the United States of Holland.

New views of policy were of course suggested by this important change.

In the year 1800 there appeared a small volume, entitled "A Description

of Java and of its principal Productions, shewing the Advantages to

be derived therefrom under a better Administration, by Mr. Dirk Van

Hogendorp," in which the writer, after observing that the true state of

Java and its importance to the mother country had hitherto been little

known, or at least that no correct ideas had yet been formed in Holland

with regard to its value, fertility, population, and advantageous

situation for trade, establishes,

"1. That the system on which the trade in India had hitherto been

conducted and the possessions administered, was no longer good under

present circumstances, but contained in itself the seeds of decline and

ruin.

"2. That the exclusive trade was in its nature injurious, and naturally

caused the ruin of the colonies.

"3. That under a different system, those colonies would flourish, and

yield much greater advantages than ever.

"4. That a revenue, founded on the principles of freedom of trade,

property in the soil, and equality of imposts, could be easily

introduced.

"5. And finally, that all the benefits which would thereby accrue

to the mother country, from the territorial revenue, the duties on

trade, the industry and wealth for which that trade would furnish

employment, and the treasures which the distribution of produce

throughout Europe must bring into the mother country, would greatly

exceed the highest advantages that could be calculated upon, even under

the most favourable prospects, by the means of the fallen Company or a

continuation of its former system."

Many parts of this pamphlet abound in violence and invective, and

others are too highly coloured; but with these exceptions, it may be

safely asserted that it contains a more correct view of the state of

society, and of the resources of the country, than any paper which

had preceded it, and the author is most justly entitled to all the

credit of having chalked out to his countrymen the road to honour and

prosperity, in the future administration of the Dutch East-Indian

colonies.

Having, in the course of the foregoing sketch of the decline and

fall of the Dutch East-India Company, exhibited a statement of these

resources, under the mercantile system of the Company, it may be

interesting also to state what, in the opinion of Mr. Hogendorp, the

island of Java alone was capable of affording eventually, under a

system founded on the principles of property in the soil, freedom of

cultivation and trade, and the impartial administration of justice

according to equal rights. "When the exclusive and oppressive trade

of the Company, the forced deliveries, the feudal services, in short,

the whole system of feudal government, is done away with, and when the

effects of this important revolution are felt in the certain increase

of cultivation and trade, then," observes Mr. Hogendorp, "the limits of

probability will by no means be exceeded, in estimating the aggregate

of the revenues of Java, in progress of time, at twelve millions of

rix-dollars, or twenty-four millions of guilders, annually."

This statement, calculated with reference to the comparative produce of

the West India Islands, has been generally considered by the colonists

as exhibiting a very exaggerated view, of what the island could, under

any circumstances, afford, and by many as too wild a speculation to

deserve attention; but to this it should be added, that the plan on

which it was founded, viz. an entire change in the internal management

of the country, was considered as equally wild and romantic by those

who declaimed the loudest against the possibility of these advantages

accruing, and that notwithstanding the doubts then entertained of its

practicability, that measure has been actually carried into effect,

without producing any one of the consequences depicted by the advocates

of the old system, and as far as a judgment can yet be formed, with all

the advantages anticipated by Mr. Hogendorp.

It is not surprising to find, that the enlightened views of this writer

were never acted upon, when we find it asserted by a commission,

who sat at the Hague in 1803, composed of the highest, and perhaps

best qualified persons in the state of Holland, and of which he was

himself a member (of course a dissenting one), that "it appeared to

them to have been admitted generally, and without contradiction, that

according to ancient regulations, of which the first institution

was lost even among the Javans themselves, the manner in which that

people are used to live rests on principles, with which a free and

unlimited disposition of the ground and its productions is absolutely

inconsistent; that they were, for their parts, convinced that such a

change could not be effected, without causing a general fermentation

among all classes of people; that though, in this case, violent

measures might suppress an insurrection, they would rather advise to

bid an eternal farewell to Java, than to resort to such means; that

if they adverted to the question in a commercial point of view, the

same uncertainty, the same dangers presented themselves. These arose

from the natural disinclination of the Javan to work, which has been

observed by many eminent persons; the danger of new monopolies, which

would fall heavier upon the common people than the present forced

deliveries; the exorbitant charges to support a great number of native

chiefs and priests, who are at present provided for and ought to be

supported; an undoubted deficiency in the revenues, and a considerable

expenditure during the first years, without the probability of a

remedy. All this," say they, "seems to forebode a neglect of the

cultivation; and after long and laborious researches, we are compelled

to lay it down as a general principle, that property, of the soil

among the common Javans, and the abolition of public services, cannot

be adopted as the basis of an improvement, of which the internal

management of Java would be susceptible. The contingents and forced

deliveries ought therefore to be continued and received on account

of the state, which has succeeded to the prerogatives of the former

Company[9]."

Marshal Daendels, who was recalled from the government of Java only a

few months before the British conquest, and who was by far the most

active and energetic governor who had for a long time been at the head

of the colony, has written an account of his own administration, of

the state in which he found the island, of the measures he proposed

and executed, of the improvements which he projected or carried into

effect, of the revenues that might be expected, and of the expenditure

that the public service required. Although he enters into some free

and bold strictures on the conduct of the Commissioners, the estimates

they formed, and the policy they recommended, he does not seem himself

to have avoided many of the faults which rendered their policy

objectionable, or to have entertained any hope of establishing a more

liberal system. Forced services and contingents, and all the tyranny

which they render necessary, still constituted the greatest part of

the ways and means of the colonial treasury, and the grand source of

profits for the Company.

The difficulties he had to struggle with, and the peculiar habits

and character formed by his profession, seem to have determined his

proceedings, more than any matured scheme of general administration,

or any deliberate principles of government. He thus describes the

situation of the colony on his arrival: "A powerful enemy threatened

us by sea, and the Javan princes, acquiring audacity in proportion as

they saw proofs of our weakness, thought the moment had arrived for

prescribing the law to their former superiors. The very existence of

our dominions on Java was thus in the greatest danger. Our internal

resources of finance were exhausted, while a stagnation of trade,

caused by the blockade of our shores, cut off all hopes of procuring

assistance from without. In the midst of such disastrous circumstances,

and the failure of so many attempts to introduce reform, and to

maintain the dignity of government, _I found it necessary to place

myself above the usual formalities, and to disregard every law, but

that which enjoined the preservation of the colony entrusted to my

management_. The verbal order which I received, at my departure from

Holland, had this for its object, and the approbation bestowed upon my

attempts to carry it into execution, encouraged me in the course of

proceeding which I had began."

The situation in which the Marshal found the colony is justly drawn;

but the result of his operations, and the condition in which he left

the government to his successor, are described in colours by far too

flattering. His partiality for his own work, and the consciousness of

having made great exertions to accomplish it, seems to have influenced

his mind too easily, in convincing him of the advantage and success of

the measures he had adopted. "In spite," says he, "of all the obstacles

I encountered, I obtained the following results. I made the general

government the centre of authority, from which every inferior authority

descended in a determined proportion, with a definite responsibility

and a salutary controul. Into all the local and subordinate

administrations, clearness and simplicity were introduced; agriculture

was encouraged, protected, and extended; general industry was promoted;

the administration of justice and of the police was put on a sure

footing; the means of defence were increased as much as possible;

many works were undertaken, both for the service of government and

other useful ends; new roads were made and old ones improved; the

condition of all the inhabitants, as well native as European, was

ameliorated, and every cause of misunderstanding removed; the relations

of the colonial government with the courts of the native princes were

regulated on principles, conformable to the dignity, and conducive to

the interests of the former; and, in fine, the revenues of the colony

were so augmented, that after every deduction for internal expenditure,

they will furnish a surplus of five millions, free of all charge, as a

nett return to Holland."

Marshal Daendels, in his memoir, sufficiently showed the fallacy

contained in the report of the Commissioners, concerning the estimated

revenue and profits of the Company. Instead of the receipt of

1,250,000 florins, accruing from the profit of the sale of opium (as

marked in the table which I have transcribed), he assures us that not

one farthing was actually obtained. Many of the conclusions of the

Commissioners, concerning the temper of the inhabitants, the nature

of the soil of particular districts, and the general resources of the

island, he satisfactorily proved to be founded on erroneous information

or mistake; and it is only to be regretted, that he did not carry the

same spirit of impartiality into the formation of his own reports,

which he requires in those of his predecessors, or anticipates from his

successors, an examination equally rigorous, and a measure of justice

equally strict as that to which they were subjected. Had this been

the case, we should not have been offered such financial results as

make the revenue of the island amount to 10,789,000 rix-dollars, and

its expenditure only 5,790,000, leaving a balance of five millions of

profit. It may be interesting to compare his estimate with the table

already exhibited.

-----------------------------------+------------------------------------

ESTIMATED RECEIPTS. | ESTIMATED EXPENDITURE.

-----------------------------------+------------------------------------

Rix-dollars.| Rix-dollars.

|

Rent of land 2,000,000|Civil appointments 1,000,000

Produce of land unfarmed 500,000|Land forces 1,227,000

Sale of opium[10] 1,120,000|Manufactory of powder,

Money 360,000| foundery of balls, and

Coffee, 300,000 pikuls, at | arsenals 180,000

20 rix-dollars 4,500,000|Hospitals 80,000

Pepper, 30,000 pikuls 160,000|Marine 250,000

Tin, 35,000 pikuls 400,000|Fortifications, &c. 200,000

Japan Copper, 25,000 |New works 400,000

pikuls 250,000|Justice and police 150,000

Spices 1,000,000|Transports and freights 300,000

Forests 250,000|Transport of Company's

Sale of rice 250,000| servants, recruits, &c.

| from Europe 300,000

|Purchase of native articles 300,000

|Package 100,000

|Interest 400,000

|Unforeseen charges 903,000

| ----------

| 5,790,000

----------|Which being subtracted

10,790,000| from 10,790,000

----------| -----------

|Leaves a nett profit,

| Rix-dollars 5,000,000

| ----------

FOOTNOTES:

[2] Barros, Decada 3, chap. 6, book 3.

[3] Probably _Grésik_.

[4] Barros, Decada 3, book 5, chapter 6.

[5] Barros, Decada 3, book 5, chap. 7.

[6] The following is the description of Java from Jono de Barros,

Decada 4, book 1, chap. 12.

"Before we treat of the expedition of Francisco de Sa, it is proper

to state the occasion of the expedition, and how that was connected

with the treaty of peace and friendship which, by order of Jorge de

Albuquerque, governor of Malacca, Henriquez Lerne concluded with the

King of Sunda, on account of the pepper produce in that kingdom.

"We must, therefore, first give an account of the voyage of Henriquez

Lerne. The kingdom of Sunda being one of those of the island of Java,

it will be best to begin with a general description of that island,

that what follows may be understood.

"The land of Java we consider as two islands, whose position is from

east to west, and nearly in the same parallel, in seven or eight

degrees of south latitude. The total length of the two islands,

according to the best authorities, is about one hundred and eighty

leagues, although perhaps this is rather exaggerated.

"The Javans themselves do not divide the land into two islands, but

consider the whole length as constituting only one; and on the west,

where it approaches Sumatra, there is a channel of ten or twelve

leagues wide, through which all the navigation of eastern and western

India used to pass, previous to the founding of Malacca.

"A chain of very high mountains runs along the whole length of Java.

Their distance from the northern coast is about twenty-five leagues.

How far they are from the southern shore is not certainly known, though

the natives say about as far as from the northern.

"Sunda, of which we are now to treat, is situated at about one-third

of the total length of Java from the west end. The natives of Sunda

consider themselves as separated from Java by a river, called _Chiamo_

or _Chenan_, little known to our navigators; so that the natives, in

dissecting Java, speak of it as separated by this river _Chiamo_ from

the island of Sunda on the west, and on the east by a strait from the

island of Báli; as having Madura on the north, and on the south an

undiscovered sea; and they think that whoever shall proceed beyond

those straits, will be hurried away by strong currents, so as never to

be able to return, and for this reason they never attempt to navigate

it, in the same manner as the Moors on the eastern coast of Africa do

not venture to pass the Cape of Currents."

The following is the substance of a note inserted in Jono de Barros,

Decadas, p. 76-77, vol. 4, part 1st, 8vo. Lisbon 1777.

"The island of Java is divided into many kingdoms along the northern

coast; and beginning to the eastward, those of which we have any

account are--_Paneruca_, _Ovalle_, _Agasai_, _Paniao_ (whose king

resides in the interior, and has a supremacy over those just

mentioned), _Beredam_, _Sodaio_, _Tubam_, _Cajoam_, _Japara_ (the

capital of this kingdom is called _Cheronhama_, three leagues from the

sea coast, near to which _Japara_ is situated), _Damo_, _Margam_, and

_Matarem_.

"In the mountainous interior live a numerous class of chiefs, called

Gunos: they are a savage race, and eat human flesh. The first

inhabitants were Siamese, who about the year 800 of the Christian era,

on their passage from Siam to Macassar were driven by a great storm

on the island of _Báli_. Their junk being wrecked they escaped in

their boat, and arrived at Java, until that period undiscovered; but

which, on account of its size and fertility was immediately peopled by

_Passara_, son of the king of Siam: and the city of _Passaraan_, called

after his own name, was founded at a very good seaport, and this was

the first settlement on the island.

"The Javans are proud, brave, and treacherous, and so vindictive, that

for any slight offence (and they consider as the most unpardonable the

touching their forehead with your hand) they declare _amok_ to revenge

it. They navigate much to every part of the Eastern Archipelago, and

say that formerly they used to navigate the ocean as far as the island

of Madagascar (St. Laurence).

"The city of _Bintam_, or _Banta_, which is in the middle of the

opening of the straits of Sunda, stands in the centre of a large

bay, which from point to point may be about three leagues wide, the

bottom good, and the depth of water from two to six fathoms. A river

of sufficient depth for junks and galleys, falls into this bay, and

divides the town into two parts. On one side of the town there is a

fort, built of sun-dried bricks: the walls are about seven palms thick,

the bulwarks of wood, well furnished with artillery.

"The island of Sunda is more mountainous than Java. It has six good

sea-ports: _Chiamo_, at the extremity of the island; _Chacatara_, or

_Caravam_; _Tangaram_, _Cheginde_, _Pandang_, and _Bintam_, which have

a great traffic, on account of the trade carried on, not only with

Java, but with Malacca and Sumatra.

"The principal city of this kingdom is called _Daro_, situated a little

towards the interior, and we are assured that when Henriquez Lerne

first visited it, this town had upwards of fifty thousand inhabitants,

and that the kingdom had upwards of one hundred thousand fighting men.

"The soil is very rich. An inferior gold, of six carats, is found.

There is abundance of butcher's meat, game and provisions, and

tamarinds which serve the natives for vinegar. The inhabitants are

not very warlike, much addicted to their idolatries, and hate the

Mahomedans, and particularly since they were conquered by the _Sangue

Páti Dama_.

"Here four or five thousand slaves may be purchased, on account of the

numerous population, and its being lawful for the father to sell the

children. The women are handsome, and those of the nobles chaste, which

is not the case with those of the lower classes. There are monasteries

or convents for the women, into which the nobles put their daughters,

when they cannot match them in marriage according to their wishes. The

married women, when their husbands die, must, as a point of honour, die

with them, and if they should be afraid of death they are put into the

convents.

"The kingdom descends from father to son, and not from uncle to nephew,

(son of the sister), as among the Malabars and other infidels in India.

"They are fond of rich arms, ornamented with gold and inlaid work.

Their _krises_ are gilt, and also the point of their lances. Many other

particulars might be added (but we reserve them for our geography[11]),

concerning the productions of this island, in which upwards of thirty

thousand quintals of pepper are collected annually."

Decad. iv. Chapter 13.

"In the year 1522, Jorge Albuquerque, governor of Malacca, equipped a

vessel to carry Henriquez Lerne, with a competent suite and certain

presents, to the king Samiam above mentioned, for the purpose of

establishing a commercial intercourse. Lerne was well received by the

king, who was fully sensible of the importance of such a connection,

in the war in which he was then engaged with the Moors (Mahomedans);

and, therefore, he requested that, for the protection of the trade,

the king of Portugal should erect a fortress, and that he would load

as many ships as he chose with pepper, in return for such merchandise

as the country required. And further, he (the king) obliged himself,

as a pledge of his friendship, to give him annually a thousand bags

of pepper, from the day on which the building of the fortress should

commence.

* * * * *

"These things being concluded and presents exchanged, Lerne returned

to Malacca, where he was well received by Albuquerque, who immediately

communicated the result to the king of Portugal, who approved of all

that had been done.

* * * * *

"Francisco de Sá was in consequence dispatched with six vessels (the

names of which and of their commanders are enumerated), with which he

called at Malacca, and accompanied the expedition against Bintam (then

in the possession of the expelled king of Malacca), on leaving which he

was overtaken by a dreadful storm, and one of his vessels, commanded by

Dironte Coelho, reached the port of Calapa (where the fort was to be

built), where she was driven on shore, and all the crew perished by the

hands of the Moors (Mahomedans), who were then masters of the country,

having a few days before taken the town from the native king, who had

concluded the treaty with the King of Portugal, and given him the site

on which to erect the fortress.

* * * * *

"But although the intended establishment on Java was thus frustrated,

the Portuguese continued to have intercourse with that island, at which

they frequently touched on their voyage to and from the Moluccas."

Decad. iv. Book i. Chapter 14.

"In August, 1626, Antonio de Britto, on his return from Ternati

to Malacca, touched at the port of Paneruca, where he found his

countryman, Jono de Moreno, who had twenty Malay junks under his

command. From thence he proceeded to the town of _Tagasam_, whose

inhabitants were at war with the Portuguese, and had captured a junk

laden with cloves, which he had dispatched to Malacca, and they even

attempted to take the vessel in which he himself was, which occasioned

his quitting that place, having however first captured a junk laden

with provisions."

Decad. iv. Book i. Chapter 17.

"In July, 1528, Don Garcia Henriquez appears to have touched at the

port of Paneruca, (Panarukan) for the purpose of taking in provisions

on his way to Malacca; and it also appears, that the king or chief of

Paneruca sent ambassadors to the Portuguese governor of Malacca in the

same year 1528."

The following is the substance of a description of Java from the Decada

of Diego de Couto.--Decad. iv. Book iii. Chapter i.

Couto describes the wreck of a Portuguese vessel, and the destruction

of her crew by the Moors, who had just become masters of the kingdom of

Sunda, in nearly the same words as Barros. He then proceeds to state,

that Francis de Sá ran before the storm along the coast of Java, and

collected his scattered vessels in the port of _Paneruca_, and gives a

general description of Java in nearly the following words.

"But it will be proper to give a concise description of this country,

and to shew which were the Greater and the Lesser Java of Marco Polo,

and clear up the confusion which has prevailed among modern geographers

on this subject.

"The figure of the island of Java resembles a hog couched on its fore

legs, with its snout to the channel of _Balaberao_, and its hind legs

towards the mouth of the Straits of Sunda, which is much frequented by

our ships. This island lies directly east and west; its length about

one hundred and sixty, and its breadth about seventy leagues.

"The southern coast (hog's back) is not frequented by us, and its

bays and ports are not known; but the northern coast (hog's belly) is

much frequented, and has many good ports: and although there are many

shoals, yet the channels and the anchorages are so well known, that but

few disasters happen.

"There are many kingdoms along the maritime parts, some of them

subordinate to the others; and beginning at the east (head of the hog),

we will set down the names of such as are known: _Ovalle_, _Paneruca_,

_Agasai_, _Sodayo_, _Paniao_ (whose sovereign resides thirty leagues

inland, and is a kind of emperor over these and others hereafter

mentioned), _Tabao_, _Berdoao_, _Cajoao_, _Japara_ (whose principal

city or town is called Cerinhama, three leagues inland, while Japara

is situated on the sea shore), _Damo_, _Margao_, _Banta_, _Sunda_,

_Andreguir_ (where there is much pepper, which is exported by a river

called Jande). In the mountainous interior there are many kings, called

_Gunos_; they live among rugged mountains, are savage and brutal, and

many of them eat human flesh."

"These mountains are exceedingly high, and some of them emit flames

like the island of Ternati. Every one of these kingdoms which we have

named has a language of its own; yet they mutually understand each

other, as we do the Spaniards and Galicians.

"The kingdom of Sunda is thriving and abundant; it lies between Java

and Sumatra, having between it and the latter the Straits of _Sunda_.

Many islands lie along the coast of this kingdom within the Straits,

for nearly the space of forty leagues, which in the widest are about

twenty-five, and in others only twelve leagues broad. _Banta_ is about

the middle distance. All the islands are well timbered, but have little

water. A small one, called _Macar_, at the entrance of the Straits, is

said to have much gold.

"The principal ports of the kingdom of _Sunda_ are _Banta_, _Aché_,

_Chacatara_ (or, by another name, _Caravao_), to which every year

resort about twenty _Sommas_, which are a kind of vessel belonging to

_Chienhec_ (Cochin China), out of the maritime provinces of China, to

load pepper. For this kingdom produces eight thousand _bahars_, which

are equal to thirty thousand quintals of pepper annually.

"Bantam is situated in six degrees of south latitude, in the middle of

a fine bay, which is three leagues from point to point. The town in

length, stretching landward, is eight hundred and fifty fathoms, and

the seaport extends about four hundred. A river capable of admitting

junks and galleys, flows through the middle of the town: a small branch

of this river admits boats and small craft.

"There is a brick fort, the walls of which are seven palms thick, with

wooden bulwarks, armed with two tiers of artillery. The anchorage is

good; in some places a muddy, in others a sandy bottom, the depth from

two to six fathoms.

"The King, Don John, conceiving that if he had a fortress in this

situation he should be master of the Straits, and of all the pepper of

those kingdoms, recommended it strongly to the lord admiral to have

a fort built by Francisco de Sa; and even now it would be perhaps

still more important as well for the purpose of defending the entrance

against the English and the Turks, as for the general security of the

trade and commerce of those parts, which is the principal value of

India. And it was the opinion of our forefathers, that if the king

possessed three fortresses, one in this situation, one on _Acheen

head_, and one on the coast of _Pegu_, the navigation of the east would

in a manner be locked by these keys, and the king would be lord of all

its riches; and they gave many reasons in support of their opinions,

which we forbear to repeat, and return to Java.

"The island of Java is abundantly furnished with every thing necessary

to human life; so much so, that from it _Malacca_, _Acheen_, and other

neighbouring countries, derive their supplies.

"The natives, who are called _Jaos_ (Javans), are so proud that they

think all mankind their inferiors; so that, if a Javan were passing

along the street, and saw a native of any other country standing on any

hillock or place raised higher than the ground on which he was walking,

if such person did not immediately come down until he should have

passed, the Javan would kill him, for he will permit no person to stand

above him; nor would a Javan carry any weight or burthen on his head,

even if they should threaten him with death.

"They are a brave and determined race of men, and for any slight

offence will run _amok_ to be revenged; and even if they are run

through and through with a lance, they will advance until they close

with their adversary.

"The men are expert navigators, in which they claim priority of all

others; although many give the honour to the Chinese, insisting that

they preceded the Javans. But it is certain that the Javans have sailed

to the Cape of Good Hope, and have had intercourse with the island of

Madagascar on the off side, where there are many people of a brown

colour, and a mixed Javan race, who descend from them."

Then follows the refutation of a ridiculous story told by Nicolas

Couti, the Venetian, about a tree that produced a rod of gold in its

pith, at which some well informed Javans, of whom Couti inquired,

laughed very heartily.

"Marco Polo mentions the greater and the lesser Java. We are of

opinion, that the Java of which we are treating is the lesser, and

that the island of Sumatra is the greater Java; for he says that the

greater Java is two thousand miles in circumference, and that the

north star is not visible, and that it has eight kingdoms, _Taleh_,

_Basma_, _Camara_, _Dragojao_, _Lambri Farafur_, from which it is

very clear that he means Sumatra, for it has nearly the dimensions

which he assigns it. The north pole is not visible, as this island

lies under the equinoctial line, which is not the case with any of the

islands situated to the northward, on all of which the north star is

seen: and it is still more evident from the names of the kingdoms, for

there cannot be a doubt that _Camara_ is the same as _Camatra_ (the ç

being soft like s). _Dragojao_ (which is pronounced _Dragojang_) or

_Andreguir_, and _Lambri_, still retain their names on that island."

[7] This is the factory which by the recent convention has been

exchanged with England for the Island of Banka.

[8] Mr. Muntinghe.

[9] Report of a Committee appointed to investigate East India affairs

made to the Government of the Batavian Republic, dated 31st of August

1803, consisting of Messrs. Murman, Sic, Ponloe, Verbuell, D. Van

Hogendorp, Nederburgh, and Voute.

[10] In a note on this source of revenue, Marshal Daendels says that he

is sensible of the evils arising from the use of this drug, but that

the Javans are so addicted to it, that no prospect of success could be

entertained from any project for reducing its consumption. Yet even

while he is making this observation, he tells us that the Commissioners

fixed the sale at 1,200 chests, and that he in his estimate has only

taken it at 800. It was afterwards reduced to less than 300 chests,

without any fear of disturbance or any danger of illicit trade.

[11] Barros often alludes to his Treatise on Geography, in which he had

described particularly all the countries mentioned in his Decadas; but

it never was published, having been left in an imperfect state at his

death.

CONTENTS

OF

VOLUME I.

PAGE

DEDICATION iii

PREFACE vii

INTRODUCTION xiii

CHAPTER I.

Geographical Situation of Java--Name--Extent and

Form--Divisions--Harbours--Mountains and Volcanos--Rivers

and Lakes--General appearance of the Country--Mineralogical

Constitution--Seasons and Climate--Metals--Minerals--Soil--Vegetable

and Animal Kingdoms 1

CHAPTER II.

Origin of the Natives--Javans compared with the Maláyus and

Búgis--Comparative Progress of the three Races--Foreign

Influence--Persons of the Natives--Manners--Population--Inequality of

it accounted for--Population Tables--Increase of Population--Foreign

Settlers--Chinese--Búgis--Maláyus--Moors--Arabs--Slaves--Gradations of

rank among the Javans--Their Habitations, Dress, and Food 62

CHAPTER III.

Importance of Agriculture to Java--Soil--State of

the Peasantry--Price of Rice--Subsistence of the

Peasantry--Dwellings--Agricultural Stock--Implements of

Farming--Seasons--Different kinds of Land--Rice Cultivation--Maize,

&c.--Sugar--Coffee--Pepper--Indigo--Cotton--Tobacco--Tenure of landed

Property 117

CHAPTER IV.

Manufactures--Handicrafts--Bricks--Thatch--Mats--Cotton

Cloths--Dyes--Tanning--Ropes--Metals--Boat and

Ship-building--Paper--Salt--Saltpetre Works--Gunpowder, &c.--Felling

and transporting of Teak Timber--Fisheries 182

CHAPTER V.

Commerce--Advantageous Situation of Java for Commercial

Intercourse--Importance of Batavia in particular--Native

Trade--Roads and Inland Carriage--Markets--Influence of the

Chinese--Coasting Trade--Exports and Imports--Trade with the

Archipelago--China--Kamtschatka--Western India--Europe, &c.--Dutch

Commercial Regulations--State of the Eastern Islands--Advantages which

they possess--Causes of the Depression of the Nations and Tribes which

inhabit them--Japan Trade 210

CHAPTER VI.

Character of the Inhabitants of Java--Difference between the Súndas

and the Javans--The Lower Orders--The Chiefs--Nature of the Native

Government--Different Officers of State--Judicial Establishments and

Institutions--Laws, and how administered--Police Institutions and

Regulations--Military Establishments--Revenue 272

CHAPTER VII.

Ceremonies of the Court--Deference paid to superior

Rank--Regalia--Processions--Pomp--Rank and

Titles--Ambassadors--Ceremonies attending Births, Marriages, and

Funerals--Account of the People called Kálang, and of the Inhabitants

of the Téng'ger Mountains--The Bedui--Festivals--Amusements--The

Drama--Wáyangs--The Dance--Tournaments--The Chase--Tiger Fights--Combat

of Criminals with Tigers--Bull Fights, &c.--Games of Skill and

Chance--Other Customs and Usages 343

CHAPTER VIII.

Language--Little known to Europeans--Different Languages or

Dialects--Those of Súnda, Madúra, and Báli, compared with that

of Java Proper--The polite Language, or Language of Honour--The

Kawi, or Sacred and Classic Language--Numerals--Chandra

Sangkala--Literature--Compositions in the Kawi Language, and in

the modern Javan--Influence of Hindu Literature--Introduction

of Arabic Literature--Poetry--The Brata Yudha, a

Poem--Music--Painting--Sculpture--Architecture--Arithmetic--Astronomy

396

AN ACCOUNT

OF THE

ISLAND OF JAVA.

CHAPTER I.

_Geographical Situation of Java--Name--Extent

and Form--Divisions--Harbours--Mountains and

Volcanos--Rivers and Lakes--General Appearance of

the Country--Mineralogical Constitution--Seasons and

Climate--Metals--Minerals--Soil--Vegetable and Animal Kingdoms._

The country known to Europeans under the name of JAVA, or JAVA MAJOR,

and to the natives under those of _Tána_ (the land) _Jáwa_, or _Núsa_

(the island) _Jáwa_, is one of the largest of what modern geographers

call the Sunda Islands. It is sometimes considered one of the Malayan

Islands, and forms a part of that division of the Oriental Archipelago

which it has been lately proposed to designate as the Asiatic Isles.

It extends eastward, with a slight deviation to the south, from 105°

11´ to 114° 33´ of longitude east of Greenwich, and lies between the

latitudes 5° 52´ and 8° 46´ south. On the south and west it is washed

by the Indian Ocean; on the north-west by a channel called the Straits

of _Súnda_, which separates it from Sumatra, at a distance in one

point of only fourteen miles; and on the south-east by the Straits of

_Báli_, only two miles wide, which divide it from the island of that

name. These islands, and others stretching eastward, form with Java a

gentle curve of more than two thousand geographical miles, which with

less regularity is continued from Acheen to Pegu on one side, and from

_Tímor_ to _Papúa_, or New Guinea, on the other: they constitute on the

west and south, as do _Bánka_, _Bíliton_, the great islands of Borneo

and Celebes, and the Moluccas on the north, the barriers of the Javan

Seas and the Malayan Archipelago. From the eastern peninsula of India,

Java is distant about one hundred and forty leagues, from Borneo about

fifty-six, and from New Holland two hundred.

To what cause the island is indebted for its present name of Java[12]

(or _Jáwa_ as it is pronounced by the natives) is uncertain. Among

the traditions of the country (which are more particularly mentioned

in another place) there is one, which relates, that it was so termed

by the first colonists from the continent of India, in consequence

of the discovery of a certain grain, called _jáwa-wut_,[13] on which

the inhabitants are supposed to have subsisted at that early period,

and that it had been known previously only under the term of _Núsa

hára-hára_ or _Núsa kêndang_, meaning the island of wild uncultivated

waste, or in which the hills run in ridges.

In the tenth chapter of Genesis we are told, that "the isles of the

Gentiles were divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after

their families, in the nations:" and in the twenty-seventh chapter of

Ezekiel we find among the rich merchants, those of _Javan_ "who traded

the persons of men, and vessels of brass, to the market of Tyre, and

who going to and fro, occupied in her fairs, brought bright iron,

cassia, and calamus." But we shall leave it to others to trace the

connection between the _Javan_ of Holy Writ and the Java of modern

times. It appears, that the Arabs, who had widely extended their

commercial intercourse, and established their religious faith over the

greatest portion of the Indian Archipelago, long before the Europeans

had navigated round the Cape of Good Hope, designate the whole of the

nations and tribes which inhabit those regions by the general term of

the people of _Jawi_, as in the following passage taken from one of

their religious tracts:--"The people of _Jawi_ do not observe with

strictness the rule laid down for keeping the fast, inasmuch as they

eat before the sun sets, while the Arabs continue the fast until that

luminary has sunk below the horizon." _Jawa_ or _Jawi_ is also the name

by which Borneo, Java, Sumatra, the Malayan Peninsula, and the islands

lying amongst them, are known among the nations of Celebes, who apply

the _Búgis_ diminutive _Jawa-Jawáka_, or Java minor, to the Moluccas,

_Ámbon_, _Bánda_, _Tímor_, and _Éndé_. Jabadios Insulæ, from _Jaba_,

and _dib_, _div_ or _dio_, has been employed in the largest sense by

Europeans, and it is probable this was once generally the case among

the Asiatics, with the terms _Java_, _Jawa_, _Jawi_, and _Jaba_,[14]

which, as the appellations of people inhabiting the countries beyond

the continent or distant, some have derived from the word _jaù_, of

very general acceptation in eastern languages, and meaning _beyond_,

_distant_.[15]

It is, perhaps, in consequence of these names having embraced the

whole, or at least several of the islands collectively, that the

accounts given by Marco Polo, and other early European voyagers, of

particular islands, as Java Major and Java Minor, are so inconsistent

with one another. The country described by Marco Polo as Java Minor,

seems, beyond doubt, to have been the eastern coast of Sumatra; but

that expression, "or Little Java," is now applied exclusively to

_Báli_, as "Great Java" is to the island we are now describing. It is

on the latter only, if we except what has been observed of the names

given to the Archipelago generally by the natives of Celebes, that the

islanders themselves apply the name of _Jawa_, in any of its forms, to

their own country. It has there even a still more confined application,

being generally limited to the eastern districts of the island, which

may be considered as Java proper, in contra-distinction to the western

districts, which are for the most part inhabited by a people called

_Súnda_, from whom the Straits and Isles of Sunda have been named by

Europeans.

Whether Sumatra, Java, or any other island of the Archipelago, or

the whole or several of them collectively, may not have formed the

_Taprobane_ of the ancients, is perhaps still an undecided question,

notwithstanding the claims to this distinction which have of late years

been rather admitted than proved in favour of Ceylon. The most striking

fact detailed in the accounts which have reached us of this ancient

country, and one which, from its nature, is least likely to have been

disfigured or perverted by the misrepresentations or prejudices of

travellers, is, that it was bisected in nearly equal portions by the

equinoctial line, and that to the southward of it the polar star was

not visible. How can this statement be evaded, or in any way applied to

Ceylon? Major Wilford seems inclined to consider _Taprobane_ as derived

from the Sanscrit words _tapa_ (penance) and _vana_ (forest or grove),

a derivation equally favorable to the claims of the Javans, _tapa_ and

_wana_, or _wono_, having the like signification in their language; and

if, as there is reason to believe, an extensive intercourse subsisted

in very remote times between Western India and these islands, where was

there a country that could more invite the retreat of holy men, than

the evergreen islands which rise in endless clusters on the smooth seas

of the Malayan Archipelago, where the elevation and tranquillity of

devotion are fostered by all that is majestic and lovely in nature?

Although in Sumatra no traces of their residence have yet been

discovered, except in the language and customs of the people; on

Java, which is almost contiguous to it, it is abundantly attested by

monuments still existing in stone and brass. In few countries, with

which we are yet acquainted, are more extensive ruins to be found of

temples dedicated to an ancient worship. If tradition may be trusted,

every mountain had its _tapa_, or recluse, and the whole energies and

resources of the country would appear to have been applied to the

construction of those noble edifices, the ruins of which still strike

the spectator with astonishment and veneration.

That these splendid and magnificent piles were erected under the

superintendance of a foreign people, more skilled in the arts than the

rude and simple natives of the islands, can scarcely be doubted; and

that they were sacred to the rites of the Hindu religion, according to

some persuasion or other, is equally clear, from the numerous images

of deities and attributes by which they are adorned, many of which

are still preserved in their original state. Further investigation

may perhaps establish Java and Sumatra, or rather the Malayan ports

(in which general term we may include all the islands containing

the Malayan Ports) as not only the _Taprobane_ or _Tapavana_ of the

ancients, but also the Sacred Isles of the Hindus.

The map of Java which accompanies this work has been drawn principally

from actual surveys, many of which were made by order of the British

Government on the island. The first map of Java which was presented to

the public, and from which nearly all those, which have subsequently

been engraved, are copies, was published by Valentyn,[16] and consists

of seven sheets. As, at that period, little more was known of the

island by the Dutch than some parts of the coast, the country in

the immediate vicinity of their capital, with perhaps the province

of Bantam, the author had no materials for making a map of the

whole island, which could pretend to much authority or value. Most

of the land in the immediate vicinity of Batavia having been sold

to Europeans, was of necessity surveyed, in order to ascertain the

different boundaries; but it was only a short time before the arrival

of Marshal Daendels, in 1808, that any steps appear to have been

taken by the local authorities, to procure correct statistical and

topographical information of the other more important districts of the

island. Something to this effect was done during the administration of

Mr. Engelhard, late Governor of the North-east Coast, but it was only

during the government of the Marshal that these objects were pursued

with much energy or success.

At the period of the arrival of the English, topographical surveys of

_Semárang_ and several of the eastern districts had been completed; and

although somewhat deficient in accuracy of measurement and neatness of

execution, yet as they appeared sufficiently correct for many valuable

purposes, and as the Government was anxious to obtain, without loss of

time, a better acquaintance with the geography of the country, it was

determined to make some sacrifice of accuracy to the considerations

of economy and expedition, and to survey the other districts upon

the same plan. While these surveys were in progress, the territorial

interest which the European government obtained in the central

provinces, induced them to turn their attention to the improvements

of which the Solo River might be susceptible. This river, the most

considerable in the island, passes through _Súra-kérta_, the capital

of the _Susuhúnan_, or (as he is termed by Europeans) Emperor of Java,

and discharges itself into the sea near _Grésik_. An actual survey

was accordingly made by a British officer of experience, particularly

instructed to ascertain how far it might be practicable to improve its

navigation by the aid of artificial cuts and dams.

A greater object soon called for more extensive measures. When it was

determined to introduce an entirely new system of internal management,

by the abolition of feudal service, and the establishment of a more

permanent property in the soil, it was deemed essential that a detailed

survey should be made of the different districts successively, in

which the new system was to be introduced. This was intended to form

the basis of a general agricultural survey of the country, then about

to be made. In several of these districts this detailed survey has

been completed; and, with the exception of the provinces still under

native jurisdiction, and called Native Provinces, nearly the whole

of the land on Java, not in a state of absolute forest, has been

measured with more or less accuracy. Of the native provinces but a

very small part has been actually surveyed; with regard to the rest,

the materials from which the present map is taken, were principally

obtained from observation made during occasional routes through them.

The southern division of Bantam being principally forest, has not been

actually surveyed; neither has the island of Madura been yet surveyed

by Europeans: the eastern part of it was measured by the natives, and

it was principally upon their authority that the map now presented of

that island was drawn. The best charts of both the north and south

coast have been consulted. The three harbours of Wyn Coops Bay,

_Cheláchap_, and _Pachítan_, on the latter, are laid down from actual

survey, as well as the entrance to the harbour of _Surabáya_. On the

whole, therefore, although the map now engraved is far from perfect,

and of course suffers from the reduction necessary to adapt it to the

rest of the work, it is presumed that it will aid the reader in most

of the geographical objects to which this volume will refer, and that

its superiority over those that have previously appeared is such as to

justify its publication.

The length of Java, in a straight line drawn between its extreme

points, (Java Head, and the south-east point of the island) is five

hundred and seventy-five geographical, equal to six hundred and

sixty-six statute miles: its breadth varies from one hundred and

seventeen geographical, or one hundred and thirty-five and a half

statute miles (between the south-west point of _Pachítan_ bay and the

north point of _Japára_) to forty-eight geographical or fifty-six

statute miles, (between the mouth of the _Seráyu_ river and the

_Marabáya_, five degrees east of _Tegál_);[17] and it is estimated to

contain an area of about fifty thousand statute miles.

Numerous small islands are scattered in its immediate vicinity,

particularly along the northern coast, and contribute, with the

projecting points and headlands inclosing the different bays, to form

harbours of various capacities. The most important of these islands

is that of _Madúra_, which is separated from the main land of Java by

a strait in one part not more than a mile broad, and serves to form

the important harbour of _Surabáya_. This island has the appearance

of being a continuation of the main land of Java, and having been

long subjected to the same political authority, has generally formed

one of the provinces of the Javan empire. In length _Madúra_ is about

seventy-nine geographical, or ninety-one and a half statute miles; and

its narrowest part is about twenty-seven geographical, or thirty-one

and a quarter statute miles. The small islands lying to the east of it

are considered as its dependencies.

The form of Java is chiefly remarkable for the rectangularity of its

outline, which is such that the island might be divided into five

or six parts, each a rectangular parallelogram drawn by an unsteady

hand. Its western and northern coasts abound with bays and inlets. The

outline of _Madúra_ is more regular, especially on the northern coast.

The coast from Bantam to the river _Chi-mánok_, about two degrees in

length on the north, is nearly parallel to that which extends from Wyn

Coops Bay to a point about twenty miles west of _Núsa kambúng'an_, the

breadth throughout being about seventy-eight geographical miles; and

from the same point to the river _Manchíngan_, a distance of about one

degree and three-quarters, the coast is nearly parallel to that which

lies between _Chéribon_ and _Semárang_, the breadth throughout being

about fifty-seven geographical miles. From the west point of _Japára_

to point _Pángka_ on the north, distant from it about two degrees, and

along the corresponding coast on the south, the average breadth is

seventy-three geographical miles; and from _Surabáya_ to the north-east

point of the island, distant about one degree and a half, and along

the south coast opposite to it, the average breadth is forty-five

geographical miles.

At the time when Europeans first visited Java, the whole of the island

acknowledged the supremacy of one sovereign: but there was a period in

its history when it was nearly equally divided under the independent

administration of two powers, one established in the eastern, and the

other in the western districts; and as there is a marked distinction

between the descendants of these two nations, the most general division

of the country is still into the western and eastern districts, to the

latter of which alone the term Java is applied by the natives. They

are separated by the river _Losári_, which forms the boundary between

_Chéribon_ and _Brébes_: and all the western, the northern, with a

few of the inland districts and the Island of _Madúra_, are under the

immediate authority and administration of the European government. The

rest of the island remains subject to the native princes, and on that

account is designated on the map and elsewhere, with more regard to

convenience than correctness of language, as the Native Provinces.

The provinces under European authority have latterly been divided into

fifteen residencies, or separate administrations, exclusive of the seat

of government, which, as they will be frequently referred to in the

course of this work, it may be convenient to notice in this place.

Commencing from the west, the province, or as it is usually termed, the

kingdom of Bantam (properly _Bántan_) occupies the first place. This

extensive province forms a large portion of the island. It is washed

on three sides by the sea. At the east it joins with the environs and

highlands of Batavia and the district of _Chi-ánjur_, and on the west

it is bounded by the Straits of Sunda; and in this quarter comprises

dependant islands scattered along its shore, and the two harbours of

_Mew_ and _Merák_, which, with other bays, deeply indent the coast.

Bantam, the native capital of this province, has been latterly deserted

by the European establishment for _Sírang_ (commonly called Ceram), an

elevated and healthy station about seven miles further inland.

Next in succession towards the east is the division of Batavia, which

comprises what formerly constituted the native province of _Jákatra_

or _Jokárta_. The northern part of this division, towards the coast,

includes the city of Batavia, populous and important on account of

its excellent roads for shipping, its advantageous position for

European commerce, and as being the long established seat of the

Dutch government, but less fertile and healthy than the more eastern

provinces of the island.

South and east of the division of Batavia and its environs lie what

are termed by Europeans the Preanger (_Priáng'en_) Regencies,[18]

the central and southern districts of which, stretching from Bantam

to Chéribon, are extremely mountainous. This extensive portion of

the island, which now includes a large part of Chéribon, consists of

the districts of _Kráwang_, _Chiásem_, _Pamanúkan_, _Kándang-aúr_,

and _Dramáyu_ or _Indramáyu_, along the northern coast, and of the

inland and southern districts of _Chi-ánjur_, _Bándung_, _Súmedang_,

_Lim-báng'an_, and _Súka-púra_; the southern coast, from the boundary

of Bantam to that of Chéribon, being included within the subdivisions

of _Chi-ánjur_, and _Súka-púra_.

To the eastward of these districts, and crossing the island from north

to south, is the province of _Chéribon_, divided into ten principal

districts. To the south is the island of _Núsa-kambáng'an_ which forms

the harbour of _Cheláchap_.

East of Chéribon, as before noticed, it is only the northern and

some of the inland districts, that are immediately subject to

the European authority. These, during the British government of

the island, were comprised under the administrations of _Tegúl_,

_Pakalúng'an_, _Semárang_, _Japára_, and _Rembáng_, which under the

Dutch East-India Company constituted what was termed the government

of the _North-east Coast_, the seat of which was at _Semárang_; and

of _Grésik_, _Surabáya_, _Pasúrúan_, _Bisúki_, and _Banyuwángi_,

which, with _Bankálang_ and _Súmenap_ on _Madúra_, constituted, under

the same authority, the division of the _Oost Hook_, or East Point

of the island, of which _Surabáya_ was the principal station. Inland

of _Semárang_ and _Pakalúngan_, and bounded by those divisions, and

by the provinces of the native princes, is situated the rich and

fertile district of _Kedú_, which, with the more eastern districts of

_Grobogan_, _Wirosári_, _Blóra_, _Jípang_, _Jápan_, and _Wírasaba_,

stretching inland from _Semárang_ to _Surabáya_, were ceded to the

British government in the year 1812.

The capitals of all the northern districts bear the same name with the

districts themselves, and are generally situated on small rivers at no

great distance from the sea.

The NATIVE PROVINCES are divided between two native sovereigns: the

_Susuhúnan_, or Emperor of Java, who resides at _Súra-kérta_,[19] on

the _Solo_ River; and the Sultan, who resides at _Yúg'ya-kérta_,[20]

near the south coast, in the province of _Matárem_. These provinces

comprise several of the richest districts of the island, among which

are _Bányumas_, _Rómo_, _Bágalen_, and _Matárem_, to the west; and

_Mádion_, _Jagarága_, _Sukawáti_, _Pranarága_, _Kértasána_, _Blítar_,

and _Kedíri_, to the east; and with the exception of the small

district of _Pachítan_, which has been recently ceded to the European

government, occupy the whole of the southern coast from _Chéribon_ to

_Málang_, a distance of not less than two hundred and fifty miles, and

form about a fourth part of the whole island.

The districts near the coasts are generally separated from each

other by rivers; those in the interior often by ranges of hills and

mountains. The districts are again divided, each subdivision including

numerous villages.

The principal harbour of the island is that of _Surabáya_ in the

eastern districts, formed by the approaching extremities of Java and

_Madúra_. It is broad and spacious, secure against the violence of the

sea and wind, and may be rendered impregnable to any hostile attack.

The next in importance is that of Batavia, more properly, perhaps,

called the roads of Batavia, which are sheltered by several islands

lying in the outer part of the bay. These roads, however, not admitting

of any means of permanent defence from the attack of a superior naval

force, the Dutch government, during the late war, were induced to

fortify the small harbour of _Merák_ Bay, on the north-west coast of

Bantam.

Along the northern coast, there are perhaps other positions which admit

of being improved into convenient harbours; but where the whole coast

affords excellent anchorage at nearly all seasons of the year, and

where vessels of any burthen can approach all the principal stations,

at a convenient distance for the barter of their merchandize, the

purposes of commerce are in that respect already sufficiently provided

for. The sea being usually smooth, and the weather moderate, the native

vessels and small craft always find sufficient shelter at the change of

the monsoon, by running under some of the numerous islands scattered

along this coast, or passing up the rivers, which, though in general

difficult of entrance on account of their bars, are for the most part

navigable to such vessels, as far up as the maritime capitals, through

which they run.

The south coast, on account of its exposure to the open ocean, the

consequent high swell or surf which breaks on it, and its general

want of good anchorage, is seldom visited by shipping. But even here

harbours may be found; and those of _Cheláchap_ and _Pachítan_ might,

no doubt, be frequented with safety, were it considered desirable to

attract commercial adventurers to this side of the island.

Passing from the coast to the interior of the country, the stranger

cannot fail to be struck with the bold outline and prominent features

of its scenery. An uninterrupted series or range of large mountains,

varying in their elevation above the sea from five to eleven, and

even twelve thousand feet,[21] and exhibiting, by their round base or

pointed tops, their volcanic origin, extend through the whole length of

the island.

The first of this series, commencing from the westward, is in Bantam.

This mountain (_Gûnung-kárang_), though of moderate elevation compared

with others on the island,[22] is seen at a considerable distance from

sea, and is a well known landmark to mariners. It lies due south of the

town of Bantam, at a considerable distance from the sea.

The next mountain of the series is the _Salák_, the eastern foot of

which is connected with the _Gedé_ or _Panarang'o_, situated about

fifty miles south of Batavia. These two mountains are seen from the

roads of Batavia, and, from the appearance they exhibit, are usually

termed by mariners the Blue Mountains.

From the eastern part of the _Gedé_, the volcanic series separates into

two independent branches, one of which inclines to the south; the other

proceeds almost due east, slightly verging to the north. The former

breaks into an irregular transverse range, which extends across the

island, till it approaches the northern branch, from whence the general

series is continued in an easterly direction as far as the mountain

_Sindóro_, the western of the two mountains known by mariners as the

Two Brothers. The mountain _Súmbing_, or _Sindári_ (the second of The

Brothers), is somewhat further to the south.

At a short distance from the eastern foot of the mountain _Súmbing_ are

three large volcanos, in a direction almost north and south, dividing

the large series transversely; these are the mountains _Ung'árang_,

_Merbábu_, and _Merápi_. The next volcano, in an eastern direction, is

that of _Japára_, which deviates more than any other from the regular

series, and forms a peculiar peninsular appendage to the island. The

series is then continued in an easterly course from the _Merápi_ as far

as the mountain _Telágawúrung_, which is in contact with the ocean at

the eastern end of the island.

The several large mountains comprised in this series, and which are

in number thirty-eight, though different from each other in external

figure, agree in the general attribute of volcanos, having a broad base

gradually verging towards the summit in the form of a cone.

They all rise from a plain but little elevated above the level of

the sea, and each must, with very few exceptions, be considered as a

separate mountain, raised by a cause independent of that which produced

the others. Most of them have been formed at a very remote period, and

are covered by the vegetation of many ages; but the indications and

remains of their former irruptions are numerous and unequivocal. The

craters of several are completely extinct; those of others contain

small apertures, which continually discharge sulphureous vapours or

smoke. Many of them have had irruptions during late years.[23]

Besides the mountains of the larger series above described, there are

extensive ranges of mountains of an inferior elevation, sometimes

connected with the larger series, and sometimes independent of them,

which are also for the most part volcanic. Numerous ridges of hills

traverse the country in various directions, and the surface of the

island in general, independently of these more striking features, is

in most parts undulating and uneven, except on the sea coast.

A country which abounds in mountains is seldom deficient in rivers;

accordingly, no region is perhaps better watered. Java is singularly

favoured in the number of its streams. The size of the island does

not admit of the formation of large rivers, but there are probably

fifty, that in the wet season, bear down rafts charged with timber and

other rough produce of the country, and not less than five or six at

all times navigable to the distance of some miles from the coast. It

would be vain to attempt numbering those which are precious to the

agriculturist; they are many hundreds, if not thousands.

The largest, and most important river on the island, is that of

_Sólo_, or as it is termed by the natives, _Beng'áwan_ (the great)

_Sólo_, which takes its rise in the district of _Kadáwang_, and after

collecting the waters of the surrounding hills, becomes a stream of

considerable depth and breadth at _Súra-kérta_, where it is further

increased by the waters collected from the adjacent districts. Its

general course from the capital is in an east-north-easterly direction,

till it discharges itself by two principal outlets into the sea, near

_Grésik_ and _Sidáyu_. After leaving _Matárem_, it traverses the

provinces of _Sukawáti_, _Jagarága_, _Mádion_, _Jípang_, _Blóra_,

_Túban_, _Sidáyu_, and _Grésik_.

At _Awi_, near the boundary of _Mádion_ and _Jagarága_, on the eastern

side of the river, a large branch from the south-eastern provinces,

commonly called the river of _Mádion_, unites itself with that of

_Sólo_, and from hence its course, which in various places has been

rapid, and in a few places impeded with rocks, is calm, regular, and

steady to its discharge. It has been estimated, that the extent of the

windings of this river is not less than three hundred and fifty-six

English miles, from _Súra-kérta_ to _Grésik_, which in the chart only

gives a straight line of one hundred and forty English miles, and

during its whole course no serious impediment appears to its navigation.

This river is of great importance to the inland trade of many of the

eastern provinces. During the rainy season, boats of considerable size

convey the produce of an extensive tract of country to the sea; and,

except during the months of August, September, and October, and in

seasons uncommonly dry, it bears down boats of middling or small size

during the whole year, from a considerable distance above _Súra-kérta_.

The boats employed in the navigation of the river are of very different

sizes, and of a peculiar construction: they are very long in proportion

to their breadth, have flat bottoms, and draw very little water. Those

generally used in conveying the produce from one village to another

in the vicinity of _Súra-kérta_, carry only a few tons, and have a

temporary covering of straw mats, or _kájang_; others, more carefully

constructed, have a regular roof of planks and a chamber or cabin

which can be closed, and convey from fifty to one hundred tons. These

are generally used by individuals in their adventures to _Grésik_ and

_Surabáya_. The largest, which are the property of the prince, load

nearly two hundred tons. They are employed in transporting the produce

of several of the interior provinces, consisting chiefly of pepper and

coffee, to _Grésik_, and return laden with salt and foreign merchandize

for the consumption of the interior. They require a considerable depth

of water, and can only pass when the river is swollen by continued

rains. They mostly depart from _Súra-kérta_ in the month of January.

Their course down the river is rapid: they generally arrive at _Grésik_

in eight days; but they can perform but one voyage in a season, as they

require nearly four months to work up the stream.

The river of _Surabáya_, the second in magnitude of the whole island,

rises near _Bátu_, in the vicinity of the southern hills of the

mountain _Arjúna_. It is near its source called _Káli-brántas_. Near

the capital of _Málang_ it receives two streams from the eastward.

There it first takes its course through the most southern provinces of

the island, when winding round the mountain _Káwi_ it returns again to

the north, receiving near its curvature numerous augmentations from

the southern ridge of mountains. The chief of these is the _Lésti_,

a considerable river coming from the east, which joins it near the

boundary of _Málang_ and _Seríng'at_. Continuing its course in a

northern direction, it traverses the provinces of _Rówo_ and _Kedíri_,

being joined on the way by the river _Rówo_: here it attains its utmost

magnitude, and is distinguished by the name of _Beng'áwan Kedíri_. From

the capital of this district to its mouths, it is navigable for boats

of very considerable size, and its course is steady and uninterrupted.

Having crossed the district of _Wirasába_ and _Jápan_, it enters that

of _Surabáya_. It discharges itself into the ocean by five outlets,

which form as many separate rivers. The first of them, taking an

easterly course, is called the river _Púnong_: then follow those of

_Tang'goláng'ing_, _Sído-kéri_, _Kedóng_, and lastly of _Wóno-króno_,

which again subdividing sends off the branch which passes _Surabáya_.

Several smaller rivers, which fall into the sea between _Semárang_ and

_Lásem_, are highly important for the conveyance of teak timber from

the central forests to the coast; and the waters from some of them

being directed into canals, particularly through the low district of

_Demák_, tend considerably to increase the inland navigation of the

country.

In the western districts, the principal rivers which discharge

themselves into the sea on the northern coast are the _Chikándi_,

which forms the present boundary between Bantam and the environs of

Batavia; the _Chi-dáni_, which discharges itself below _Táng'ran_;

the _Chi-tárom_, which falls into the sea below _Kráwang_; and the

_Chi-mánok_, which forms the present boundary between _Dramáyu_

and _Chéribon_. The principal rivers which discharge themselves by

the south coast are the _Chi-mandíri_, which falls into the sea at

_Palábuan-rátu_, or Wyn Coops Bay; the _Chi-tándui_, which disembogues

near _Núsa-kambáng'an_; and the _Seráyu_, which taking its rise in

the mountain _Díeng_ or _Práhu_, traverses the rich districts of

_Bányumas_, and falls into the sea a short distance to the east of

_Cheláchap_; but these rivers, though of considerable depth, are choked

up at their mouths by heavy banks or bars, and in consequence of the

heavy surf which constantly breaks on the southern coast, are dangerous

at their entrance.

Along the northern coast, almost every district has its principal

river, and most of them are navigable up to the maritime capitals

for native vessels of considerable burthen; but they all have the

disadvantage of being partially blocked up at their discharge by

extensive bars and mud banks, an evil which is extending with the

increase of agriculture, by reason of the quantify of soil necessarily

washed down in the process of irrigating the land for the rice

cultivation. Most of them require the application of jetties or piers

to deepen the passages at their entrance.

There are no lakes of any considerable size on Java, for that name

cannot be given to the _ráwas_, or swamps, which though swelled to

a considerable size in the wet season, are for the rest of the year

either dried up or choked by vegetation. Of this description are

two extensive tracts; one inland of _Japára_, usually termed by the

Dutch the _Binnen Zee_, or inland sea; and another in the district

of _Semárang_. In _Báglen_ also (one of the native provinces on the

southern side of the island) there is a lake which supplies the

neighbouring country with fish, and along the coast of which a traffic

is carried on in boats.

Extensive swamps are also found in some parts of the native provinces,

and in the mountainous districts of the _Súnda_ country. Several very

beautiful lakes, of small dimensions, are discovered among the hills,

and some of them can evidently be shown to have been formed of the

craters of extinct volcanos.

The general aspect of Java on the northern coast is low, in many places

swampy and overgrown with mangrove trees and bushes, particularly

towards the west. The southern coast, on the contrary, consists almost

entirely of a series of rocks and cliffs, which rise perpendicularly

to a considerable height. In the interior, stupendous mountains

stretch longitudinally throughout the island, while others of an

inferior elevation, and innumerable ranges of hills running in

various directions, serve to form and confine plains and valleys of

various elevations and extent. On the northern side, the ascent is in

general very gradual, from the sea-coast to the immediate base of the

mountains; particularly in the western parts of the island, where it

has the greatest breadth, and where the mountains are situated far

inland. In approaching the mountains, which lie at the back of Batavia,

there is a gradual but almost imperceptible acclivity for about forty

miles. In other parts, where the mountains and hills approach nearer to

the coast, the ascent is of course more abrupt, as may be observed in

the vicinity of _Semárang_.

Although the northern coast is in many parts flat and uninteresting,

the interior and southern provinces, from the mountainous character

of the country, may be reckoned amongst the most romantic and highly

diversified in the world; uniting all the rich and magnificent scenery,

which waving forests, never-failing streams, and constant verdure can

present, heightened by a pure atmosphere and the glowing tints of a

tropical sun.

The largest of the elevated plains are; in the west, that of _Bándung_,

formed between the two ranges of volcanos which branch off from the

foot of the mountain _Gedé_; and in the east, those usually termed

the plains of _Sólo_ and _Kedíri_, which extend along the central

districts from the _Merápi_ to _Kedíri_ and the site of the ancient

capital of _Mejapáhit_. These are of considerable magnitude, and with

the exception of the valley of _Kedú_ and the province of _Bányumas_,

through which the beautiful river of _Seráyu_ bends its winding and

romantic course, are perhaps the richest parts of the island. The

low-lands, however, are not without their claims to that distinction;

especially the flats of _Demák_, once an extensive swamp, and the Delta

of _Surabáya_. Large tracts, particularly in the mountainous ranges

of the western districts, still remain in a state of nature, or where

the ground has been once cleared of forest, are now overrun with long

and rank grass. In the central and eastern districts, the country is

comparatively well clothed with cultivation.

Quitting the low coast of the north, in many parts unhealthy, the

traveller can hardly advance five miles inland without feeling a

sensible improvement in the atmosphere and climate. As he proceeds,

at every step he breathes a purer air and surveys a brighter scene.

At length he reaches the highlands. Here the boldest forms of nature

are tempered by the rural arts of man: stupendous mountains clothed

with abundant harvest, impetuous cataracts tamed to the peasant's

will. Here is perpetual verdure; here are tints of the brightest hue.

In the hottest season, the air retains its freshness; in the driest,

the innumerable rills and rivulets preserve much of their water. This

the mountain farmer directs in endless conduits and canals to irrigate

the land, which he has laid out in terraces for its reception; it then

descends to the plains, and spreads fertility wherever it flows, till

at last, by numerous outlets, it discharges itself into the sea.

Almost all the mountains or volcanos, in the large series before

noticed, are found on examination to have the same general

constitution: they are striped vertically by sharp ridges, which, as

they approach the foot of the mountain, take a more winding course.

These ridges alternate with valleys, whose sides are of a very various

declivity. Large rocks of basaltes occasionally project, and in several

instances the valleys form the beds of rivers towards the tops of the

volcanos; in the rainy season they all convey large volumes of water.

Next in importance to this extensive series of primary mountains,

there are various ridges of smaller mountains, or hills, extending

in different directions, with nearly an equal degree of elevation;

sometimes originating from or connected with the primary volcanos,

sometimes forming independent ranges, and arising separately and at a

distance from the great series. These, which have been termed secondary

mountains, though evidently of a volcanic nature, differ in many

particulars of their constitution from those of the larger series. They

generally extend in long narrow ridges, with but a moderate elevation,

and their sides are less regularly composed of the vertical ridges

above mentioned. In most cases, a stratified structure and submarine

origin may be discovered. They are generally covered with large

rocks of basaltes; and in some instances they consist of wacken and

hornblende, which is found along their base in immense piles.

Hills of calcareous constitution, with only a moderate degree of

elevation, occur in smaller ridges, often with a flat or tabular top;

or in steep rocks and eminences. These are sometimes found in the

centre of the island, covering the volcanic districts, but much more

frequently near the northern and southern shores.

Hills of a mixed nature, partly calcareous and partly volcanic, are

also found. The southern coast of the island consists almost entirely

of them, rising in many places to the perpendicular height of eighty

or one hundred feet, and sometimes much higher. These, as they branch

inward and approach the central or higher districts, gradually

disappear, and give place to the volcanic series, or alternate with

huge masses of basaltic hornblende, that appears to assume a regular

stratification. At the base of these, or in the beds of the rivers

which proceed from them, are frequently found various silicious stones,

as common flints, prase, hornstone, jasper, porphyry, agate, cornelian,

&c.

Alluvial districts, evidently of recent origin, are noticed in several

parts of the island. These are formed from the sediment and near

the discharge of large rivers, and at the borders of the calcareous

ridges, which are in many instances partially covered by them: their

boundary can easily be traced, and most of them are still in a state

of constant progression. Among other phenomena are mineral wells of

various temperature and impregnation; wells of naphtha, or petroleum;

and rivers arising, in a few instances, from the craters of volcanos,

impregnated with sulphureous acid[24].

From these, and all other investigations yet made, the constitution

of Java appears to be exclusively volcanic. From the vast Asiatic

chain of mountains, one branch of which terminates in Ceylon, proceeds

another, which traversing Arakan, Pegu, and the Malayan peninsula,

extends to Sumatra, _Bánka_, and _Bíliton_, where it may be said to

disappear. On Java no granite has been discovered. In its constitution,

as in its direction, it may be considered as the first of a series of

volcanic islands, which extend nearly eastward from the Straits of

Sunda for about twenty-five degrees.

At what period the island assumed its present shape, or whether it

was once joined to Sumatra and _Báli_, is matter for conjecture. The

violent convulsions which these islands have so often suffered, justify

a conclusion that the face of the country has been frequently changed,

and tradition mentions the periods when Java was separated from those

islands;[25] but the essential difference which has been found in

the mineralogical constitution of Java and Sumatra, would seem to

indicate a different origin, and to support the opinion that those two

islands were never united. Whether, at a period more remote, the whole

Archipelago formed part of the continent of Asia, and was divided from

it and shattered into islands; whether they were originally distinct

from the main land, or whether they were formed at the same time, or

subsequently, are questions we cannot resolve. Yet, when we reflect on

the violence of those dreadful phenomena[26] which have occurred in

our own times in the smaller islands of the volcanic series, and view

this range, as it is now presented to us on the map of the world, a

conjecture might perhaps be hazarded, that the whole may have once

formed but the southern side of one large island or continent, within

which much of the main land has fallen in, and subsequently disappeared

on the influx of the sea.

The constitution of the island is unfavourable to metals. All the

examinations hitherto made confirm this assertion, and it may be laid

down as a general position, that no metals occur, in such a quantity,

or with such richness of ore, as to reward the operations of the

miner. The only notice we have of the existence of gold or silver is

contained in the first volume of the Transactions of the Batavian

Society; and the attempts on the mountain of _Párang_, in 1723, and on

the _Mégeméndung_, in 1744, were soon abandoned. Iron pyrites is found

in small quantity in several districts, as well as red-ochre; which,

however, often contains so little iron, as scarcely to serve for the

common purpose of paint. The existence of mercury in the low lands

of _Démak_, where it is distributed in minute particles through the

clay of the rice-grounds bounding one of the principal rivers of that

district, has not been considered as an indication of a mine, or of the

ores of that metal.

No diamonds are found, nor other precious stones, but many minerals

of the schorl, quartz, potstone, feldspar, and trap kind. They mostly

exist in mountains of secondary elevation, towards the southern shores

of the island, sometimes in extensive veins; but separate fragments

are carried down by the rivers, and found far from their original

deposition. Prase is found in very extensive veins; hornstone is also

abundant in particular situations, as well as flint, chalcedony,

hyalite, common jasper, jasper-agate, obsidian, and porphyry.

The soil in Java is for the most part rich, and remarkable for its

depth; probably owing to the exclusively volcanic constitution of the

country, and the constant accession of new mould, which is washed down

the side of its numerous mountains. It has the character of being in a

high degree richer than the ordinary soil of the Malayan countries in

general, particularly of Sumatra and the Malayan peninsula. The best

soil resembles the richest garden-mould of Europe; and whenever it can

be exposed to the inundation necessary for the rice crop, requires

no manure, and will bear without impoverishment, one heavy and one

light crop in the year: the poorest, with this advantage, will yield

a liberal return to the husbandman. In an island of such extent and

variety of surface, the soil is necessarily various, but its general

character is that of extraordinary fertility. The red and very light

soil of the western districts is generally considered inferior to the

dark brown and stiffer soil which prevails in the eastern. The best

soil is usually found near the beds of rivers, in the valleys, and on

the slopes of the largest mountains: the worst on the ranges of low

calcareous hills, which run through different parts of the island.

The seasons, in all the countries situated within about ten degrees of

the equator, agree in this: that as one eternal summer prevails, they

are not distinguished as hot and cold, but as wet and dry. On Java the

seasons depend upon the periodical winds. The period of the setting

in of these winds is not determined within a few weeks; but generally

the westerly winds, which are always attended with rain, are felt in

October, become more steady in November and December, and gradually

subside, till in March or April they are succeeded by the easterly

winds and fair weather, which continue for the remaining half year.

The heaviest rains are in the months of December and January, and the

driest weather is in July and August; at which latter period, also, the

nights are coldest and the days hottest. The weather is most unsettled

when the season is changing, particularly at the first setting in of

the westerly winds: but those violent storms and hurricanes, which are

so often felt in the West Indies and in higher latitudes, are here

unknown. With the exception of a few days at these periods, or when

the westerly winds are at their height, vessels of any description may

ride in safety in most of the bays along the northern coast of the

island; and on shore, the wind is never so violent as to do damage.

Thunder-storms are, however, frequent, and the lightning is extremely

vivid. In the vicinity of the hills, and elsewhere during the dry

season, seldom a day passes without thunder and lightning; and although

these grand exhibitions of nature cause less consternation in general

within the tropics than beyond them, it cannot be denied that they are

destructive of many lives. Earthquakes are to be expected in a volcanic

country, and are frequent in the vicinity of the volcanos; but the

European towns have never sustained any serious injury from them.

During the rainy season there are many days free from showers. The

mornings are generally clear, and although the rains sometimes continue

without intermission for several days, and frequently fall in torrents,

they are not marked on Java by that decided character, either of

permanence or violence, which distinguishes the periodical rains of

the continent of India; neither is the dry season distinguished by

that excessive aridity which attends the hot seasons of that country.

Even in July and August, the atmosphere is refreshed by occasional

showers, and the landscape is at all times of the year covered with the

brightest verdure. The thermometer of Fahrenheit has been known to rise

along the northern coast as high as 90° about three in the afternoon,

and even higher, particularly in the large and low capitals of Batavia,

_Semárang_, and _Surabáya_; but from observations made during a course

of some years at Batavia, and published under the authority of the

Dutch government, it has been found usually to range between 70 and

74° in the evenings and mornings, and to stand about 83° at noon. By

similar observations at _Semárang_, the same thermometer, placed in a

spacious and open apartment, has averaged 87½° at noon.

At a distance inland of not more than thirty or forty miles, where the

ascent is gradual, and of fifteen or twenty or less where it is rapid,

the thermometer falls from five to ten degrees lower. At _Chi-serúa_,

situated about 40 miles inland of Batavia, and _Chi-pánas_, about

twelve miles further, on the opposite slope of the mountain _Gedé_, the

thermometer ranges generally between 60 and 70°. In the morning, at six

o'clock, it is sometimes as low as 57°; and in the afternoon, at three,

its usual height is from 67 to 70°, but seldom rising to 72°. On some

of the hills inland of _Semárang_, on which Europeans frequently reside

during the dry season, at an elevation of about four thousand feet,

the thermometer is frequently seen as low as 45°, and generally, in the

clear season, ranges from 50 to 62°, and on the summit of one of the

mountains (_Sindóro_) it has been observed as low as 27°[27]. Ice, as

thick as a Spanish dollar, has been found; and hoar-frost, denominated

_bóhon úpas_, or the poisonous dew, has been observed on the trees and

vegetation of some of the higher regions.

By its insular situation, the climate of Java enjoys the benefit of

land and sea breezes, which in its least favoured parts subdue the

fierceness of the tropical rays, while the great elevation of its

interior affords the rare advantage, that from the sea-shore up to the

tops of the mountains, there is, almost from one end of the island to

the other, a regular diminution of the temperature, at the rate of two

or three degrees of Fahrenheit for every ten miles.

The general inference which has been drawn by professional men,

from the experience which the occupation of Java by the British has

afforded, is, that with the exception of the town of Batavia, and some

parts of the northern coast, the island of Java stands on a level, in

point of salubrity, with the healthiest parts of British India, or of

any tropical country in the world.

The principal stations of the British army, composed of Europeans and

Sepoys, were at Weltevreden, within three miles of the town of Batavia,

and at _Semárang_ and _Surabáya_, spots certainly less favourable to

health than the rest of the island taken generally; but detachments

from it have occasionally done duty in every district of the island.

The tables included in the Appendix[28], will shew, that

notwithstanding the troops laboured under many disadvantages and

privations, in point of accommodation, &c. to which they would not

have been subjected in a more permanent settlement, and that they were

otherwise exposed to diseases unconnected with those of the climate,

the average casualties were not excessive. From the 1st November, 1813,

to the same month in 1814, the average number of troops is stated to

have been 7,470, the deaths 504, making a proportion of 1 to 14-8: the

average number of sick in the same period was 862, making a proportion

of sick to well as 1 to 8. From the beginning of November 1814 to the

same month in 1815, out of an average number of troops stationed in

different parts of the island, in corps and detachments, amounting to

7,487, there were 252 deaths, 63 of which were caused by fever, 123 by

dysentery, and 65 by other diseases, making an average number of deaths

of 21 per month, or in the proportion of one death to thirty men in

the year, a proportion not exceeding that of some of the healthiest

possessions in temperate climates.

To this general result may be added the comparative casualties in his

Majesty's 78th regiment, during the period of its being stationed in

India and Java. This regiment has occasionally been cantoned at each of

the principal stations, and has remained on the island from the first

conquest of Java. By the table will be seen the number of rank and file

of which this regiment consisted at different periods, since 1797 to

1815, and the number of casualties in the same periods. It might not be

proper to select the years in which it landed on the continent of India

or on Java; but those in which it was stationed in either country may

be brought together, as fit subjects for comparison. By calculation,

upon the data of the table, it will appear, that from December 1800 to

December 1801, the deaths were to the number of troops as 1 to about

20½; in 1801-2, as 1 to 12; in 1803-4, as 1 to 5¼; in 1804-5, as 1 to

8½; in 1805, as 1 to about 20; in 1806-7, as 1 to 28 nearly; in 1807-8,

as 1 to 24½; in 1809-10, as 1 to about 23; in 1811-12, as 1 to 3¾;

in 1813-14, as 1 to 6; and in 1814-15, as 1 to about 20 nearly. The

places at which the regiment was stationed at these different periods

will be seen by the table; and the cause of the unusual mortality

that prevailed in 1811-12, and which exceeds any of the years on the

continent, will be found in an extract from the letter of Dr. Currie,

the surgeon, inclosing the return. The mortality in the last year was

as 1 to 20 in the regiment, and among the whole troops, according to

the data above, as 1 to about 30; a low estimate for climates, whose

characters stand higher for salubrity than that of Java.

That the climate of Java, in general, is congenial to the human frame,

at least to that of an Asiatic, is corroborated by the great extent of

its native population, compared with that of the surrounding islands,

notwithstanding the checks which it experienced both from the native

princes and the European government; and the convincing proof which

the records of the British army now afford, are perhaps sufficient to

remove the unfavourable impression which existed against the climate of

the island, as affecting Europeans.

At the same time, however, that Java has to boast this general

character of high salubrity, comparatively with other tropical

climates, it is not to be denied that there are some spots upon

it which are decidedly unhealthy. These are to be found along the

low swampy marshes of the northern coast, which are mostly recent

encroachments upon the sea: the principal of these is Batavia, the long

established capital of the Dutch eastern empire.

The climate of this city has ever been considered as one of the most

baneful in the world. It has even been designated the storehouse of

disease; with how much justice, is too woefully demonstrated by the

writings of those visitors who have survived its perils, and the

records of the Dutch East-India Company itself. If we may credit

Raynal,[29] there perished between the years 1714 and 1776, in the

hospitals of Batavia, above eighty-seven thousand sailors and soldiers.

From the table, No. 1, imperfect as it is, on account of the loss of

many of the registers at the period of the British conquest, it will be

seen what a large proportion the deaths bore to the whole population;

and from the table, No. 2, of the same Appendix, discovered among the

Dutch records, it appears further, that the total amount of deaths in

this city, from the year 1730 to the year 1752, was in twenty-two years

more than a million of souls.

To those who are acquainted with the manner in which the affairs of

the Dutch East-India Company were managed abroad, there will perhaps

be no difficulty in laying rather at the door of the colonists, than

of the nation, the crime of maintaining a commercial monopoly, at such

a dreadful expence of lives as resulted from confining the European

population within the narrow walls of this unhealthy city. That the

sacrifice was made for that object, or to speak more correctly, under

that pretext, for the private interests of the colonists who were

entrusted with its details, can scarcely be doubted. From the moment

the walls of the city were demolished, the draw-bridges let down, and

free egress and ingress to and from the country was permitted, the

population began to migrate to a more healthy spot, and they had not

to go above one or two miles beyond the precincts before they found

themselves in a different climate. But this indulgence, as it gave the

inhabitants a purer air, so it gave them a clearer insight into the

resources of the country, and notions of a freer commerce, which, of

all things, it was the object of the local government and its officers

to limit or suppress.

Necessity might have first determined the choice of the spot for the

European capital; but a perseverance in the policy of confining the

European population within its walls, after so many direful warnings

of its insalubrity, cannot but lead to the inference, that either the

monopoly of the trade was considered a greater object to the nation

than the lives of the inhabitants, or that the more liberal views of

the government were defeated by the weakness or corruption of its

agents.

Of the vegetable and animal kingdoms, as of the mineral, we shall

content ourselves with such an account as may be necessary to convey

to the reader a general notion of the nature of the country and its

resources, referring the man of science to the intended publication of

Dr. Thomas Horsfield, a gentleman whose sole attention has, for the

last seven years, been directed to the natural history of Java.

Java is distinguished not only by the abundance of its vegetation,

but by its extraordinary variety. Upwards of a thousand plants are

already contained in the herb-area of Dr. Horsfield, of which a large

proportion are new to the naturalist. Between the tops of the mountains

and the sea-shore, Java may be considered as possessing at least six

distinct climates, each furnishing a copious indigenous botany, while

the productions of every region in the world may find a congenial spot

somewhere in the island.

Vegetable productions, which contribute to the food and sustenance of

man, are found in great variety. Of these the most important is rice,

which forms the staple grain of the country, and of which there are

upwards of a hundred varieties. Maize, or Indian corn, ranks next, and

is principally cultivated in the higher regions, or in those tracts

where the soil is unfavourable to the rice cultivation. The bean, or

_káchang_, of which there are many varieties, is an important article

of food. Of the sugar-cane, which is used by the natives only in its

raw state, they distinguish eight varieties, an account of which, as

well as of the cultivation of coffee, pepper, indigo, tobacco, &c. will

be found in the chapter on agriculture. Aniseed, _múngsi_, cummin-seed,

_márícha_ (black pepper), _chábi jáwa_ (long pepper), _kumúkus_

(cubebs), socha dolichos, and _mendéking_, plants of considerable

importance, may be considered as indigenous to the island, and are

collected for various uses in diet and medicine.

Besides the cocoa-nut and other productions more generally known,

there are many trees growing spontaneously, of which the seeds and

kernels are used as food; the principal of these are the _peté_,

_jéngkol_, and _kómlandíngan_, several species of the mimosa, and the

_púchang_ and _kamíri_. The bread-fruit tree grows on Java, and is of

the same species (although inferior in quality) with that of the South

Sea Islands: but the fruit is comparatively very little esteemed or

employed as an article of food.

Of tuberous roots, besides those furnished from the principal genera,

convolvulus, dioscorea, and arum, are those from the _bangkwang_

(dolichos bulbosus), the roots of which are much esteemed by the

natives, and the _kéntang jáwa_ (ocymum tuberosum) or Java potatoe.

Most of the numerous varieties of the convolvulus and dioscorea, which

furnish food for the natives, have been enumerated in one of the first

volumes of the Batavian Transactions. The jatropha manihot, called _úwi

blanda_, or _wúdo_, has been propagated through all parts of Java, and

is found growing in the hedges.

The true sago of Amboina and the Eastern Islands, is found only

solitary in a few low and marshy situations, and the preparation

of it from the pith of the tree is not known to the inhabitants of

Java: the leaves only are employed for covering houses; but from the

_áren_, or sagurus rumphii, which grows abundantly in every part of

the island, and on account of its variously extensive uses, ranks next

in importance to the cocoa-nut, a substance is prepared, similar in

all respects to the true sago of the Eastern Islands. The tops of

various trees of the palm kind, which are sought after in other parts

of the East as food, are, on account of the abundance of rice and other

esculent vegetables, but little regarded in Java; but the young shoots

of many varieties of the _bambu_ are used in the diet of the natives.

Wheat and potatoes, with almost every species of European vegetables,

are cultivated with success. Of the oil-giving plants a particular

account will be given when describing the agriculture of the country.

Java, in common with the Malayan islands in general, abounds in

indigenous fruits. "No region of the earth," observes Mr. Marsden,

"can boast an equal abundance and variety of indigenous fruits." The

_mangústin_, which on account of its acknowledged pre-eminence amongst

Indian fruits, has been termed the pride of these countries; the

_durian_, or _dúren_, to which the natives of these islands are so

passionately attached; the _rámbutan_, the _lánseh_ or _lánseb_, with

an extensive variety of the jack, the mango, the plantain, the guava,

the pine-apple, the papaw, the custard-apple, the pomegranate, and

almost every species of fruit which grows within the tropics, are here

found in the greatest variety. The tamarind tree is general. The island

also produces many kinds of oranges, citrons, lemons, and in particular

the pumplemous (known in Bengal under the name of the Batavian lembu,

or lime, and in the West Indies as the shaddock), besides the _sáwu_,

_klédung_, _pachítan_, and a variety of others, not generally known

to Europeans, but well calculated for the table. Of the mango, at

least forty varieties are enumerated; the wild raspberry, which is

found in the higher regions, is not destitute of flavour; one kind, in

particular, with dark violet-coloured fruit, approaches in taste to the

European species. In some of the mountainous tracts are to be found

peaches, Chinese pears, and some other fruits imported from Japan, the

Cape of Good Hope, and China.

Among innumerable flowers which bloom in perpetual succession

throughout the year, and impregnate the air of these countries with

their fragrance, those of the _champáka_, _tán-jong_, _meláti_,

_kanáng'a_ and _nágasári_, hold the first rank; they are used by the

natives in the ornament of their persons, and are remarkable for their

fragrance. The myrtle and rose are found in the gardens of Europeans.

A great variety of ornamental trees and shrubs, many of them overlooked

in the catalogues of Rhumphius and Van Rheede, have been noticed, as

deserving cultivation for their utility as well as beauty.

The medicinal plants of Java have been described in an account

published in the Batavian Transactions: among these are many which

are employed in the daily practice of the natives, of which a large

proportion have not been subjects of investigation or experiment

by Europeans, and others which had not previously been botanically

described or classed. In a country hitherto imperfectly explored,

and abounding in profuse vegetation, it was natural to calculate on

the discovery of many useful medicinal plants; and among upwards of

sixty, described, for the first time, by Dr. Horsfield, he particularly

notices several, as likely to become most valuable articles in general

medicinal practice.

Besides abundance of coir, termed _sepét_ by the natives, prepared from

the fibres which surround the cocoa-nut, and gamuti (called _duk_),

prepared from those of the _áren_ tree, both of which are well known,

another species of palm, the _gebáng_, also yields valuable ropes,

the fibre of which is obtained from the large petioles or stalks of

the leaves by pounding and beating. Intelligent natives assert, that

ropes prepared from these are particularly valuable, exceeding in

strength all other kinds of equal size. The fibres and ropes are called

_bas_. The cotton shrub (gossypium herbaceum) is universal; and hemp,

though its uses are unknown to the Javans, is found in the gardens

of foreign settlers. Besides these, the island affords various kinds

of vegetables, the fibrous bark of which is made into thread, rope,

cloth, &c.; but they are never cultivated, and when required for use

are collected in their wild state. The general denomination, in the

Javan language, of the internal bark of all vegetables which can be

manufactured into cords, thread, &c. is _lúlub_. This being freed, by

beating or maceration, from the adhering particles of the exterior

bark, yields the fibrous substance, which is twisted by the most simple

process, commonly by the hands alone. The trees which afford the

_lúlub_ are the _wáru_, which is very abundant, and is manufactured

into ropes for all common domestic purposes; the _melínju_, the bark

of which is called _bágu_; and the _béndo_, which affords ropes of

superior strength and durability.

Of the bambusa, the _pring-ápus_, the stem of which may be considered

arborescent, furnishes the cheapest ropes. These are made with great

expedition, being split into thin strips, which are twisted on the spot

into cords fit for all common purposes, although they are serviceable

only for a few days. They are uniformly used, in travelling, for

securing baggage, &c. Among shrubs principally employed for these

purposes are the _werúng_, _urís-urísan_, _dalúmpang_, _che-plákan_

and _glúgo_; among plants, the _widúri_ and _rámi_; the fibres of the

latter afford very strong and durable cords, which are chiefly employed

for nets or lines, and used in fishing: they greatly resemble the

sunn of western India, and would probably be found to answer the same

purpose, as well in furnishing the bags called in India gunny-bags,

for the transportation of goods, as for the manufacture of paper in

Europe. This remark applies also to the _lúlub_ of several of the other

shrubs mentioned. Several species of _písang_ or plantain yield the

materials for ropes and cords of various fineness, according to the

methods employed in preparing them. In the Manilla Islands, cables

are made from these fibres; and in the first volume of the Batavian

Transactions a mode is described of preparing from them a substance

resembling cotton. The leaves of the '_nanas_, or pine-apple, contain

also abundance of useful fibres, which are easily separated in a

bundle, after scraping off the coriaceous substance. It is very fine,

and the separate fibres are employed by the natives in sewing without

any preparation; but it may also be spun, and is made into a kind of

stuff resembling silk, gauze, &c.

Mats are made from several species of pandanus, from a kind of grass

called _méndong_, and from the leaves of various palms, particularly

the _gebáng_. The latter affords the most common kinds, coarser and

less durable than the others, as well as bags (straw sacks) resembling

very coarse mats.

The paper in common use with the Javans is manufactured from the

_glúgo_, (morus papyrifera.)

A variety of vegetable substances are used in dyeing: the principal

of which, however, are the _tom_, or indigo, which is extensively

cultivated throughout the island; and the _wong-kúdu_, which affords

a lasting scarlet. A black dye is obtained from the bark of several

exotic trees, united with the rind of the _mangústin_ fruit. A yellow

dye is also obtained from an exotic wood, heightened by the addition of

the bark of the _nángka_ tree, and a variety of the mango.

Extensive forests of the _játi_, or teak of India[30], are found in

almost all the eastern provinces; but the most valuable and important

are in the central districts, situated inland, between _Semárang_ and

_Sidáyu_, and particularly in the districts of _Blóra_, _Jípang_, and

_Padáng'an_.

Of the teak tree there is but one species known, the tectona grandis

of Linnæus, the tekka of Van Rheede, and the jatus of Rhumphius.

Its natural history has been already fully detailed, and all the

kinds generally enumerated are merely varieties. These are usually

distinguished among the natives of Java by names derived from the

quality and colour of the wood. The principal are the _játi kápur_,

the chalky teak, and a kind varying in colour, and on account of

its excellence termed _játi súng'gu_, or the true teak. The former

is the most common: its wood is of a whitish hue, and it sometimes

contains calcareous concretions in nodules or streaks. This sort is

chiefly employed for common domestic purposes, and though inferior

in quality to many others, from its abundance and comparative

cheapness, is perhaps the most generally useful. The _játi súng'gu_

is harder, closer, and more ponderous, and particularly selected for

ship-building. The colour of the wood is of different shades, from

light to intense brown, with a cast of violet verging sometimes to red

or black. If the stem is covered with spines, or rather pointed scales,

it is called _játi dúri_, but in its texture and quality it agrees with

the _játi súnge'gu_. Besides these the natives distinguish, as _játi

gémbol_, those excrescences or protuberances which are produced from a

variety of the _játi_, furnishing materials for handsome cabinet-work.

The teak tree on Java grows at a moderate elevation above the level

of the ocean. It is generally conceived, that the timber afforded by

forests growing on a soil of which the basis is limestone, and the

surface uneven, gravelly, or rocky, is the hardest, the freest from

chalky concretions, and in all respects the best; but in laying out

a teak plantation, a soil consisting in a great proportion of black

vegetable mould, is always selected for the purpose of obtaining a

rapid growth. The teak tree is slender and erect. It shoots up with

considerable vigour and rapidity, but its expansion is slow. Like all

other trees affording useful timber of a close grain, it is many years

in arriving at maturity. Under favourable circumstances, a growth of

from twenty to twenty-five years affords a tree having about twelve

inches diameter at the base. It requires at least a century to attain

its perfection, but for common purposes, it is usually felled when

between thirty and fifty years old[31].

Notwithstanding the extent to which cultivation has been carried in

many districts of the island, large portions of its surface are still

covered with primeval forests, affording excellent timber of various

descriptions. Besides the teak, there are several kinds of wood or

timber employed for various domestic purposes, as the _súren_ (the tuna

of Bengal), of which the wood is very light, stronger and more durable

than all other kinds of similar weight produced on the island: as the

grain is not fine, it is not employed in making furniture, but it is

useful for chests, trunks, carriages, &c.; its colour is red, and its

odour somewhat resembling that of the cedar. Its weight is probably

inferior to that of the larch.--The _wúngú_ or _ketángi_ is often used

instead of teak: the grain is somewhat finer: when in full blossom it

is perhaps the most beautiful tree existing.--The _wádang_ or _báyur_,

a light and tolerably durable wood, is employed for masts and spars

of small vessels; but the surface must be well covered with resinous

substances to prevent its splitting.--The _gintúngan_ is employed in

the same manner, but grows to a larger size; the colour of the wood

and bark is red.--The _lampéan_ or _lában_ is light but durable, and

affords materials for the handles of the spears or pikes borne by the

natives.--The _nángka_ abounds in several districts where teak is not

found, and is almost exclusively used in the construction of houses,

and other domestic purposes: the wood is more close and ponderous

than the _súren_, which it otherwise resembles; it takes a tolerable

polish, and is sometimes employed for furniture. The colour is yellow;

but it is made to receive a brownish hue, by the application of the

young teak-leaves in polishing: its bark is used as a yellow dye.--The

_lúren_ resembles the _nángka_, but is generally of rare occurrence,

though in some tracts it furnishes the only timber: its use in the

neighbouring islands, particularly on Sumatra, is well known.--The

_kusámbi_ is uncommonly heavy, hard, and close: it supplies anchors for

small vessels, blocks, pestles, and numerous similar utensils.--The

_sáwur_ is a very beautiful and useful wood; the colour resembles that

of mahogany, but the grain is closer, and it is more ponderous: its

chief use is for handles of tools for carpenters and other artificers,

for machinery, especially for the teeth of the wheels of mills, and

other purposes where a hard and durable wood is required. On account of

its scarcity, it is uniformly cut down on Java before it arrives at

the necessary size for cabinet-work. Forests of it grow on the hills

of _Báli_, opposite the Javan shore, whence it is brought over by

boat-loads for sale.

The _pílang_ is a very hard wood, and employed in the eastern

districts, instead of lignum-vitæ, for the construction of

ships'-blocks, &c.--The _pung_ is equally hard, and uniformly employed

by the natives for pegs in constructing their _prahus_.--The _wáli

kúkun_ is equal to the _kusámbi_ in weight, and exceeds it in hardness:

it is employed for anchors, naves of wheels, machinery, &c.--The

_tang'gulun_ is a hard wood of a close grain, and employed by turners

for various small works.--The _kelúmpit_ is a very large tree: sections

are employed by the natives for cart wheels.--The _járan_ is a white

wood taking the tool easily: the natives prefer it to all others

for the construction of their saddles, which consist principally of

wood.--The _demólo_ affords a light wood, which is made into planks,

and employed where durability is not much required.--The wood of the

_kedáwung_ is whitish and moderately hard.--The _lában_ is a yellowish

and hard wood: it is employed for the handles of axes and various

utensils.--The _jánglot_ is considered by the natives as the toughest

wood produced in the island, and is always employed for bows when

procurable: the tree is of a moderate size.--The _béndo_ is a light

wood, useful for canoes.--The _séntul_ is a light close-grained wood,

and easily worked: it resembles the _súren_.

For household furniture, cabinet-ware, &c. are employed--the _sóno

kling_ of the _Maláyus_, the colour of which is a deep brown,

inclining to black:--the _sóno kómbang_, which has some resemblance

to the _lingua_ wood of the Moluccas:--the _war'm-lot_, dark brown;

and _próno-sodo_, resembling the walnut, both scarce:--the _wer'n_,

of a brown colour, of a close substance and light, abundant in some

districts:--the _mentáus_ and _júmberit_, the wood of which is white

and fine-grained, uniformly used for inlaying:--the _randu kúning_,

yellowish and close-grained:--and the _íng'as_, of a brownish red

colour, and very brittle.

For the hilts and sheaths of krîses, the natives make use of the

_timóko_, of which the black and white variegated fragments are called

_pélet_. These are of various kinds.--The _arúman_, variegated white

and black, is also employed for canes, handles, and spears, &c.

and is very heavy.--The _tiké_, yellowish, closed and marble,--the

_mángu_,--the _áti áti_,--the _kráminan_,--the _púrwo-kúning_ and

several others, are employed for the same purposes.--The _kamúning_ is

of a brownish colour and very fine grain:--the _tayúman_ resembles the

last and is very much esteemed:--the _wúni stelágo_ affords a reddish

wood.

Among the most extensively useful productions ought not to be forgotten

the _bámbu_, or _príng_, which abounds on Java, and seems, from the

greater luxuriance and variety by which it is here distinguished, to

find the soil and climate more congenial to its growth than those of

any other country. It blossoms in different parts of the island. The

rattans (_rótan_) of Java are on the whole inferior to those of Sumatra

and Borneo: the improved state of cultivation is unfavourable to their

growth and propagation.

Many woods afford excellent fuel. The charcoal prepared from the

_kusámbi_ is equal perhaps to that of any other wood with which we are

acquainted, and is universally preferred in cooking, and in the other

branches of domestic economy. Charcoal, for gunpowder, is uniformly

prepared from the celtis orientalis, called _áng'grung_.