About 10 A.M. we reached Kandang Badak, _Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara, Volume II (Commodore B. Von Wullerstorf-Urbair,) Undertaken by Order of the Imperial Government in the Years 1857, 1858, & 1859, Under the Immediate Auspices of His I. and R. Highness the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, Commander-In-Chief of the Austrian Navy.

assemble, which is the second station, 7200 feet above sea-level. Solitary

specimens of the formidable animals which have given their name to this

place are still met with here; but a troop of some hundred men,

accompanied by almost as many horses, must necessarily make such a din in

the usually solitary forest, as at once to account for our being unable by

personal observation to speak as to whether it deserves the name it has

received. The rhinoceros, despite his immense size, is a shy, timid

animal, who flees before man, and only attacks him when fairly compelled

to do so in self-defence. The Pasanggrahan erected at this spot has

several times already been burnt down by red-hot stones ejected from

Gedeh. Here the path divides, one branch leading to the still active

crater of Gedeh, which can only be reached on foot, the other leading to

the summit of Pangerango. For the second time we changed horses, and now

had the last bit of the way before us--the steep, almost precipitous, cone

of Pangerango. It was enveloped in thick clouds, and it was only by the

short windings of the path we could realize that we were riding up an

isolated cone of regular form, the slope of which was between 25 and 30

degrees. The cool air of these elevated regions now began to make itself

felt, while our sensations bodily testified to the northern character of

the vegetation around us. The tree-ferns indeed continued to grow up to

the very highest point, but long ere reaching the summit they ceased to be

found among the gigantic forest-pillars of the _Liquid-ambar_, but grew

between dwarfish, knotted, stunted trees, whose trunks were overrun with a

bright green moss, while from the branches hung festoons of greyish-green

beard-moss (_Tillandsia usnioides_), greatly resembling hair. The trees,

instead of stretching out their brown limbs to the air and light above,

left them to droop sullenly to the ground, turning themselves, as though

in pain, away from the rude wind which swept through their branches, and,

as it were, seeking for warmth and sustenance from mother Earth alone. All

the plants here showed a tendency to become creepers, as also to a

circumscribed growth and extent of foliage, as well as uniformity of

species. By 3 P.M. the whole party, including a rear-guard of irregular

naturalists and sharp-shooters, had finally reached the summit of the

mountain. When Dr. Junghuhn, the first man who trod this solitude, made

the earliest ascent of this mountain in 1839, he found not a trace of a

human step, and had painfully to make his way by rhinoceros-paths, beneath

a thick overhanging canopy of leaves, and through dense underwood. Thus he

finally succeeded in forcing a passage through the forest, till he emerged

upon a naked patch in the middle of the peak, where a rhinoceros was

lying in the middle of the stream, while another was browsing on the edge

of the forest: they fled snorting away on beholding him. How different was

what we now witnessed on the same spot!

The flat space on the summit, somewhat concave in shape, and sinking

gradually away, the deepest part being towards the S.W., whence issues the

highest spring in Java, now resembled the bivouac of a detachment of

troops. Everywhere were men and horses, with cheerful blazing fires for

cooking and warming, while immediately adjoining a strawberry garden

filled with delicious fruit, rose a hut for shelter against wind and

weather, in which we found a surprising degree of comfort. Tables, chairs,

beds, excellent provisions and drinkables, were ready for us at an

elevation of more than 9000 feet above the level of the sea, so that there

was nothing wanting which could in any way contribute to our comfort. Even

the necessary warmth was supplied by a huge iron stove, constantly kept

supplied with fresh fuel by a Javanese servant, cowering on the ground.

This was the more necessary that our systems, accustomed of late to

tropical temperature, were unusually susceptible to this sudden and

extreme change. In the morning when we left Tjipannas the thermometer even

at that early hour marked 70 deg., while the mercury had now sunk to 48 deg.22

Fahr. The longings we so often expressed, during a sojourn for months

together on the bosom of the ocean, amid the moist, sultry strata of the

lower atmosphere, in an almost unvarying Turkish-bath-like temperature of

86 deg., of being once more re-invigorated by a little cold, were now being

gratified to the letter.

Unfortunately our anticipated enjoyment of the view from the summit was

entirely frustrated by rain and cloud: we could hardly see anything a

hundred yards distant, and the only idea we could form of the gigantic

mountains and splendid hill-scenery that we knew surrounded us on all

hands, had to be derived chiefly from the topographical charts we found in

the hut. It was only during the occasional fleeting glimpses, when the

S.E. trade-wind of the upper atmosphere, generally the chief ruler of

these lofty regions, and almost always accompanied by a pure, blue sky,

overpowered the N.W. trade (which blew from beneath; and, trending upwards

along the cleft in the western side of the crater of Mondolawangi,

continually enveloped anew in clouds the summit of the Pangerango), that

it was permitted us to descry, now here, now there, small stretches of the

country lying spread out at our feet, or to perceive closer at hand the

inner slope of the crater of Gedeh, lying exposed to our wondering vision.

We did what we could to secure a few thermometrical and barometrical

observations, as also to shoot, to geologize, to botanize; and many a

valuable discovery was made ere night set in and compelled us to seek

shelter against the raw, cold night air, in the Pasanggrahan, which had

been so carefully fitted up for our accommodation. On the summit we found

quite an accumulation of various elegant little plants, which recalled to

us the Alpine districts of our own land, one of which, first discovered

by Junghuhn, and named by him _Primula Imperialis_,[49] is one of the

loveliest flowers in Nature, and which has never yet been found in any

other part of the globe; while in the brushwood around we heard the cooing

of a bird of the thrush species (_Turdus fumidus_), which, with the

exception of a small, very elegant little fellow, somewhat resembling the

willow-wren, was the sole representative of the feathered tribe in these

elevated regions.

All our hopes were now directed towards the ensuing morning, which it was

hoped would bring us better weather. By five in the morning every one was

on foot, watching with anxious look the advent of the star of day. But

alas! ere long all was once more enveloped for us in a dense but fine

vapour, and the thermometer indicated only 47 deg.33 Fahr.

About fifty feet higher than the two huts for shelter erected on the

plateau rises a trigonometrical pole, which, visible from a great

distance, serves as a land-mark for the government surveyors during their

labours in this neighbourhood. Any clear morning, when the sky is free

from clouds, one must enjoy from this free, airy out-look a splendid

distant view over a large portion of the Preanger Regency. As for

ourselves our panorama continued to be lamentably circumscribed, and all

we could do was, to watch for those fleeting moments during which the

clouds lifted and gave us a brief yet comprehensive glimpse of the

wondrous natural beauty of the surrounding landscape.

Pangerango, 9326 Paris, or 9940 English, feet in height, is the loftiest

of the extinct volcanic cones of Java, rising on the eastern slope of an

enormous crater-gulf, likewise extinct. Close in the vicinity, not above a

mile distant to the S.E., and communicating with it by the ridge of Pasce

Alang, 7000 (Paris) feet in height, rises another volcanic peak, Gunung

Gedeh, of almost precisely identical height (9323 Paris, or 9937 English,

feet). Its summit has fallen in, and from amid the debris on the floor of

this ruined crater rises a second cone far less in height, but in full

activity, with a deep crater, which is the true fiery gorge of the still

active Gedeh. Towards 7 A.M. the clouds dispersed for a considerable

space, when directly opposite us we saw the beautifully regular cone of

Gedeh, with its perpendicular precipitous crater-wall, some 600 or 700

feet high. So near, indeed, did it appear to the eye that we could almost

fancy it possible to throw a stone from the one summit to the other, so

that it should fall exactly into the crater, from amid whose rents and

cavities thick volumes of smoke were bursting forth at several points.

By 10 A.M. our caravan was once more under weigh on our return to

Tjipannas. The geologist of the Expedition, however, accompanied by Dr.

Vrij and one of the government employes, set off upon a rather dangerous

adventure, viz. the ascent of the Gedeh. Of this interesting excursion,

Dr. Hochstetter gives the following interesting details:--

"A short distance before reaching the station of Kandung Badak, the path

leaves the road by which we had come thus far. Here we had to clamber

upwards as best we might, by a narrow path densely overgrown, and

evidently but rarely traversed, till presently we emerged from the forest

upon a tract of loose stone and scoriae, which, sparsely covered with low

bushes and grass, forms the upper portion of the peak of Gedeh. A strong

odour of sulphuretted hydrogen greeted us here, issuing from a Solfatara,

which nestled under the true crater in a deep savage cleft of rock. Hot

sulphureous and watery vapours were emitted from among the dark crannies

of the rock, the upper edges of which were coloured yellow with pure

sulphur: with much difficulty we still pressed on, and finally reached the

edge of the ruined crater. What a contrast presented itself here in the

view before us and the landscape behind!

"Behind we could see from base to summit clear and unbroken the beautiful

luxuriantly-green well-wooded peak of Pangerango, on whose highest point

stood out near and distinct the trigonometrical pole, or land-mark, while

from the forest was heard an occasional musket-shot, sure sign that the

company of travellers from the ship were on their way down. On the other

hand, when we cast our eyes forward we saw but dismal desolate groups of

grey rock, around the lofty amphitheatre-shaped rock wall of the

broken-down lip of a crater, regularly constructed of pillar-like masses

of trachyte, each sundered from the column immediately adjoining, beneath

which was the smoking cone of the active region of the crater, a bare heap

of stone and scoriae, of the utmost variety of colour. Stretching from the

vast abyss of the crater-ruins, on whose bald slope is situated the cone

of the new eruption, there is visible at intervals on either side, far

down, until indeed it is lost in the dark gloom of the forest, a bare

rocky ravine, full of stones and debris, which the active vent of the

crater has from time to time vomited forth. We had on the previous day

passed the lower extremity of this stream while riding to Pangerango.

"But we were not yet at the goal of our wanderings. We still had to climb

from this point, and afterwards to scramble up to the summit of the active

cone. This, however, proved to be much more easy than we had thought when

looking at it from below, and we arrived without any disaster at the

summit.

"Here then we were standing upon the edge of a yawning crater, in full

activity! Not a single step forward was it possible for us to make. In

front of us lay a funnel-shaped slope, 250 feet in depth, the floor of

which was covered with mud, in which stood frequent pools of boiling water

of a yellow tinge. The Javanese who accompanied us stated that they had

never before seen it so quiet, the crater having always been quite full

of steam and vapour. On the present occasion the steam only escaped in

small volumes through a few fissures in the sides of the inverted cone,

and more particularly from the cracks and crevices on the exterior of the

cone of scoriae. We could perceive only water, steam, mud, and

sharp-cornered fragments of rock, the debris and rubbish formed by the

disintegration of the rocky masses thrown up by the crater, but not a

trace, not a vestige, of any molten stream of lava, heaped up by the

present crater of Gedeh. The whole history of the activity of this volcano

may be compared to the explosions of a vapour cauldron in the interior of

the earth, which has been heated by the masses of old trachytic lava

currents in an incandescent state, but not yet thoroughly cooled, whose

eruptions formed the principal means of erecting the volcanic cone.

Repeatedly up to our own times has the mountain thrown up water, mud, and

stones, together with fine powdered sand and volcanic ashes, which have

travelled as far as Batavia, as also masses of melted stone cemented by

liquefied sand, while marvellous volumes of flame were visible to an

immense distance; but at no period within the memory of man has the Gedeh

poured forth the hot liquid lava, or thrown up into the air melted

volcanic matter. We must regard it as in its last stage, as about to

become extinct, like all the other volcanoes of Java. It is the last

reaction of the internal fires against the atmosphere penetrating from

without. Even the most active volcanoes of Java, such as Gunung Guntur and

Gunung Lamengan eject only masses of liquefied rock and scoriae, cemented

by the heat, but the regular lava currents have never been observed."

While Dr. Hochstetter was occupied with this excursion to the active

crater of Gedeh, the remaining members of the Expedition had reached

Tjipodas at the foot of this fire-mountain, where, at an elevation of 4400

feet above sea-level, and at an annual average temperature of 63 deg.5 Fahr.,

the first attempts were made to acclimatize in Java the valuable quinquina

tree (_Cinchona sp._).

Although for twenty years past the introduction into Java of the

cultivation of the quinquina tree, the bark of which is of such

superlative importance for suffering humanity, had been repeatedly tried,

this praiseworthy intention was only successfully carried into effect in

1852, through the purchase of a specimen of _Cinchona Calisaya_ from the

_Jardin des Plantes_ at Paris by the then colonial minister of the kingdom

of the Netherlands, M. Pahud, afterwards Governor-general of the Dutch

East Indies. M. Pahud had the plant brought to Leyden with the utmost

care, whence it was conveyed to Rotterdam for shipment to Batavia.

Immediately on its arrival this plant, the progenitor of all that have

been grown since, was placed in what is called the Governor-general's

strawberry garden in Tjipodas, where it was protected by a bamboo shed

from rain and sun, and at the time of our visit was 16 feet high. Dr.

Hasskarl, widely renowned as a botanist, was, on the recommendation of Dr.

Junghuhn, who had himself been urgently requested to undertake the duty,

entrusted with a mission to Peru, whence he was to bring back offshoots,

and germinating seeds, of the various species of Cinchona from which

quinine is obtainable. Two years later, a Dutch man-of-war was specially

despatched to Callao, the harbour of Lima, to convey Hasskarl with his

valuable booty. That gentleman accordingly brought away with him four

well-rooted young trees, and the seeds of four species of Cinchona,[50]

but only the saplings gave promise of success, whereas the greater part of

the seeds, on being sown, were lost. M. Hasskarl has had the reproach cast

upon him, that during his expensive residence of two years' duration in

Peru, he should have collected such few data of the higher and lower

limits of vegetation of the China plant, and the conditions of soil and

mountain temperature under which it best flourishes, of the general

influence exercised on it by storm and humidity, as also upon the annual

quantity of rain it requires, whether a shady or sunny place of growth be

best adapted to it, the period of flowering and fructification, the

alterations which may be rendered necessary by its habits of growth at

various points, as to what are its natural enemies, and how far its

alkaloid properties are affected by the greater or less elevation above

the sea of the spot in which it is growing, &c., &c. Nay, some persons

went so far as to allege that the botanist had never seen one single

China plantation, and had never personally selected either the plants or

the seed, but had made arrangements for being supplied with the specimens

he brought by means of the native bark-collectors (_Cascarilleros_). As

though still further to enhance the public discontent with Hasskarl, and

the failure of his expensive mission, fate unhappily willed that his wife,

who was said to be bringing with her his papers and memoranda of his stay

in Peru, was lost, together with the vessel which, after several years'

separation from her husband, was about restoring her to his arms, in

consequence of which many questions relating to the cultivation of the

China plant in northern and southern Peru remained unanswered! Hasskarl

ere long returned to Europe "for his health," and the superintendence of

the China cultivation was in June, 1858, committed to Dr. Junghuhn, in

whose careful charge it now is, and has taken a start which leaves no room

to doubt its ultimate and permanent success.

In October, 1856, there were in Tjipodas 105 China trees of 2 feet 6

inches high (41 of _C. Calisaya_, 64 of _C. Condanimea_). On 31st October,

1857, there were only 95 about 4 feet 11-1/2 inches in height, all in

flourishing condition, while 10 had died. The cause of this lamentable

phenomenon could not long escape the piercing glance of Junghuhn. The

first tender shoots had been planted in a Tufa soil, the fertile covering

of which barely exceeded 6 to 9 inches in thickness, and were surrounded

by roots and stumps of immense forest trees that had been cut down, which

of course prevented anything like expansion, and, in a word, completely

stifled their growth.

In the case of the earlier plants, there was far too little attention paid

to the requisite amount of shade. The timber had been entirely cleared

away, and the young plants were consequently exposed during the whole day

to the fierce heat of the tropics. Unless people were prepared to see the

whole plantation go to ruin it was necessary at once to take protecting

measures against it. Junghuhn was a man fit for any emergency, as he had

already shown on the banks of his native Rhine, when the very cells of

Ehrenbreitstein, with which a chivalric adventure had made him acquainted

in his youth, had for once been found too narrow to hold him. So in

Tjipodas, the man of resources was able at once to devise a remedy. With

incredible toil, and the most fostering care and attention, nearly all the

trees were, without detriment to one single twig, transplanted from a soil

so little congenial to them to the adjoining Rasamala-wood, in which the

proud, slight _Liquid-ambar Altingiana_ imparts its own peculiar character

to the primeval forest, where they were transferred to spots partly

shaded, which had already been prepared for their special reception, the

sites having been surrounded with trenches to carry off the superfluous

water. In October, 1857, some of the trees had already attained a height

of 14-1/2 feet; by 31st March of the following year they were already

15-1/2 feet, while their stems were 3.44 inches thick. Many of the trees

planted near the forest had within three months grown from 9 to 21

inches, while the few that remained on their old site had only gained 9 or

10 inches in height, a fact which seemed incontestably to prove that the

new site was the better adapted to them. In June, 1857, the first blossom

had made its appearance on one of the _Condanimea_, but it was not till

May, 1858, that the majority of the trees were in full bloom, or that the

ripening fruit began to make its appearance. When all the fruits ripen,

Dr. Junghuhn told us he was in hopes he would secure 80,000 fruit, which,

as each fruit contains about 40 seeds, would provide him with 3,200,000

seedlings. It is not indeed a question merely of ripe and at the same time

fertilized seeds, but chiefly whether the bark of this plant contains in

the land of its adoption, and under different conditions, that costly

alkaloid quinine, which seems daily to become more indispensable in the

science of medicine.

Despite the most anxious solicitude there had long been remarked in

Tjipodas a gradual decay of some of the shoots, but it was only a few days

before our arrival that after a most minute zealous inquiry the cause of

this phenomenon was discovered. A minute insect, scarcely 1/25 of an inch

in length, of the _Bostrichus_ species, proved to be the foe of these

plants. The holes which are burrowed by this insect, are drilled quite

through the wood of the stem and branches into the very pith, in which it

finally stops and lays its eggs. The Cinchona trees thus bored through are

irremediably ruined, but there is always the hope that, as the roots

remain sound, they may afterwards put forth new shoots. However, the

appearance of this insect does not seem to be the primary cause of the

disease of the trees,--on the contrary, disease is the cause of the

appearance of the insect. If the other trees prove to be successfully

reared, the insect will disappear, since it was convincingly proved by one

of our zoologists that it had not come to the country with the Cinchona

seeds and plants, but was undoubtedly indigenous to Java.

Altogether there were, in May, 1858, upon the whole island three quinquina

plantations, which have been specially established with a view to the

solution of certain questions of climate at various elevations, and are

situated in the following localities:--

1. In Tjipodas at the foot of Gunung Gedeh (4400 to 4800 feet above

sea-level), in a beautiful Liquid-ambar forest, and containing 80 plants.

2. In Bengalenzong, on the declivities of the Malabar Range (4000 to 7000

feet in height), in the midst of a considerable oak forest (_Quercus

fagifolia_), containing 600 plants.

3. South of Besuki on the Ajang Range (about 6800 feet above sea-level),

in a plantation[51] containing 21 plants, to which Dr. Junghuhn gave the

name of Wono Djampie, i. e. Forest of medicines.

The Dutch Government has spared neither trouble nor expense, and has made

considerable sacrifices, to bring over the quinquina plant from its native

country, where it was believed to be threatened with utter destruction, to

Java, there to be acclimatized. The chances in favour of an adequate

return are very great, and the attainment of this object has been secured

within certain limits. Of all the tropical regions we visited, the Island

of Java seems by its natural advantages to be the best capable of

affording to the tree which produces the febrifuge bark, so invaluable a

boon of nature to suffering humanity, a second home, amid the magnificent

scenery of its mountain ranges.

However, the wide-spread idea that the China plant is exposed to utter

extinction in its native land of Peru has proved to be quite unfounded. We

shall revert to this subject when we come to treat of our visit to the

western coast of South America, and shall take pains to solve at least

some portion of the question in dispute, as to certain necessary

conditions being requisite to be observed in the case of the quinquina

plant in its original home, the investigation of which, the superintendent

of the quinquina tree culture in Java, Dr. Franz Junghuhn, so earnestly

commended to the attention of the scientific members of the _Novara_

Expedition.

However, our interest was not confined to these China-tree plantations;

our attention was riveted by the marvellous Rasamala (Liquid-ambar) forest

in which we now found ourselves, while those fond of the chase were not

less amazed and gratified, at bringing down a splendid specimen of what

is known as the Kalong or Roussette Bat (_Pteropus vulgaris_). These

singular nocturnal animals hang in enormous quantities throughout the

entire day from the branches of the trees, amid the profoundest stillness,

till evening sets in and dismisses them to their nightly evolutions. They

are then visible flying through the air like gigantic bats, or flying

foxes.

While riding back to Tjipannas we remarked amid the smiling rice fields

several poles with hangings of various kinds, resembling those erected on

the shore in front of their huts by the superstitious natives of the

Nicobar Islands, in order to keep his Satanic Majesty at a distance. The

natives call these poles Tundang-Setan (talisman against the devil), and

believe they can by their aid frighten away the evil spirits, while they

are gathering the crop from their rice fields.

From Tjipodas the excursionists proceeded to Tjiangoer,[52] the present

capital of the Preanger Regency, containing about 15,000 inhabitants,

where some days were to be spent in excursions, collections, hunting, and

other amusements, after which we were compelled by the limited time

available to return to Buitenzorg and Batavia. Two members of the

Expedition, Drs. Hochstetter and Scherzer, penetrated a little further

into the interior, with the purpose of paying a visit to Dr. Junghuhn, to

whose researches in the Natural History of Java we are so much indebted.

The following few pages are devoted to an account of this interesting

excursion.

Towards 5 P.M. we arrived at Tjiangoer, in company with Dr. de Vrij and M.

Vollenhoven, and immediately set out on our journey to Bandong, so as to

reach the same evening that neat little town, whose singularly favourable

position, almost exactly in the centre of the Regency, makes it a

dangerous rival to Tjiangoer as the seat of government. _En route_ we

passed Tjisokan, a small village, most of whose inhabitants are engaged in

procuring edible swallows'-nests, which are found in great quantities at a

chalk mountain about twelve miles distant, known as Radjamandula.[53] The

spots at which the edible nests of the _Hirundo esculenta_ are found are

anything but grottoes peculiar to this product, as is usually alleged, but

steep, almost inaccessible, cliffs, crannies, and fissures in the rock, in

which the swallows build their nests, and which can only be reached by the

utmost exertion, frequently accompanied by danger to life. They are met

with partly upon the south coast, close above the raging surf, partly deep

in the interior, about 2000 feet above the level of the sea, distant

several hundred English miles from the nearest part of the sea-shore; and

while the inhabitants of Karangbolong have to scale the almost

perpendicular coast-wall by means of ladders[54] of Rotang (_Calamus

Rotang_) and Bamboo, ere they can reach the entrance of the cavern, the

natives of Bandong, on the contrary, are compelled to climb up to a yet

greater elevation among the precipices and rocks, ere they are able to

reach the openings that lead to the various hollows.

While the birds are breeding, or if they have their young, which happens

four times each year, one half remain in the cavities, and both males and

females take their turns in sitting to brood, every six hours. Each nest

is inhabited by a pair of swallows, so that if 1000 nests are found in a

cave, they are inhabited by 2000 grown swallows (half male, half female).

The fecundity of this bird is so great, that, although the nests are

gathered four times a year, and that somewhere about a million of their

progeny is at each plucking wasted or destroyed by the collectors, they

never seem to diminish. The six caves at Bandong give yearly about 14,000

nests, that at Karangbolong about 500,000: one hundred nests weigh about

one _catty_ (1-1/4 lb.), and one hundred catties (125 lbs.) make one

_picul_.[55] For each picul of these nests, which they look upon as a

special delicacy, the Chinese pay from 4000 to 5000 guilders (L350 to

L420). The nest-gatherers are apparently a special class, whose occupation

is handed down from father to son.

Close to the village of Tjisokan, a very elegant wooden bridge,

constructed on the American system, but entirely erected out of the

resources of the colony, has been thrown over the Tjisokan river. The

roads, although broad and kept in excellent order, nevertheless lead

occasionally over hills so steep, that to descend them in a heavy

carriage, especially considering the rapidity with which the Javanese

drive, is exceedingly uncomfortable, and even dangerous, although the

wheels are in such cases provided with a solid "_sabot_," and where this

seems likely to prove inadequate, a number of natives hang on to the

wheels behind, who for a small gratuity control the rate of descent by

means of ropes.

At last, about midnight, shortly before which we passed the river

Tji-Tarum by a ferry, we reached Bandong, and on gaining the residence of

the Javanese Regent, Raden Adipati Wira Nata Kusuma (spelt by the Dutch

_Koesoema_, but pronounced as spelt in the text), were received,

notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, in the most hospitable and

friendly manner. Here we found everything, even to the minutest detail,

managed in the European fashion; and no guest would imagine that he was in

the house of one of the Mahometan princes of Java, were he not reminded of

the fact by the rich Oriental costume of his host and his family, as also

by the Javanese domestics, bearing elegant richly-adorned Siri, or

betel-boxes, of gold or silver, and invariably tendering their services to

their masters in a stooping posture, or rather sliding after them upon

their knees. For the Javanese, too, greatly affect the leaf of the betel,

mingled with powdered areca-nut, powdered coral, or pearl chalk, and

Gambir (_Nauclea Gambir_); however, this mixture is not chewed, but

placed between the lips and the front teeth, where it is barely kept long

enough to admit of the saliva collecting in the mouth of a blood-red

colour, which they spit out, the poor in their huts into cocoa-nut shells,

the wealthier classes into copper vessels, but princes and rich people

into golden spittoons. Even the ladies have given way to this custom, and

the native belles make use occasionally of this filthy juice in order to

keep importunate admirers at a distance!

Supper, which, in anticipation of our arrival, had been made ready for us,

was served entirely in the European mode, and our Mahometan host went so

far in his assimilation to Western ideas as to overcome certain religious

scruples, and himself join us at table. As we sat round the board long

after midnight the Assistant Resident of the district made his appearance,

M. Visscher van Gaasbeek, a Hanoverian by birth, who however has lived

twenty-five years in this country, and immediately placed himself entirely

at our disposal. We now proceeded to chalk out our plan of operations for

the ensuing day, and the Regent gave orders in advance to have in

readiness his own coach and several saddle-horses for an excursion to

Lembang, the residence of M. Junghuhn. Before we separated, the Regent,

with whom unfortunately we could only communicate through a Malay

interpreter, with much condescension produced out of a leathern case his

own elegantly-engraved _carte-de-visite_, and expressed his desire to

exchange with ourselves. The Javanese princes seem to attach especial

importance to anticipating the Europeans in good-breeding, and

forestalling the desires and wishes of strangers. At last, towards 2 A.M.,

we went to rest, and despite the fatigue of the previous day, were by 5

A.M. seated in the carriage of the Regent, _en route_ to the residence of

Dr. Junghuhn. We drove the two first posts, about 10 _paals_, when we

exchanged that mode of conveyance for our horses, which in less than an

hour brought us to Lembang, situated about 4000 feet above sea-level, in

an almost European climate. Standing alone close to this village is the

beautiful dwelling of Junghuhn, at the foot of the volcano Tangkuban

Prahu, and surrounded on all sides by beautifully-laid-out gardens, in

which, cut off from the scientific world, he lives with his family.

Everything around gives to the stranger a thoroughly home-feeling; in

every countenance is visible content, in every glance the most heart-felt

cheerfulness.

Franz Junghuhn, a German by birth, from the district of Mansfeld in the

Harz-mountains, saw many years hard service as a military surgeon in the

service of the Dutch Government, and at present holds the appointments of

Inspector of Scientific Explorations, and Director of the entire

China-tree cultivation of the Island of Java, with ample means for the

solution of this problem. This indefatigable naturalist (of whom there is

an excellent engraving at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew), to whom

science is indebted for the most comprehensive information relating to

Java, has himself ascended 45 different volcanic peaks, and that at a

period when there were no bridle-roads leading to their foot, but only

those singular zig-zag paths which the rhinoceros has worn for himself, in

order to browse at his leisure and undisturbed on the roots and rich grass

of these lofty pastures. His imposing exterior and expression of

countenance all betoken the indefatigable perseverance and gigantic

powers, both physical and intellectual, which find expression in his

incomparable work upon Java, and his great chart of that island.

The renowned _savant_ received us like old friends, with the most

delightful fervent hospitality, related to us his very latest experiments

and observations with respect to the cultivation of the quinquina plant,

and presented us with his last work,[56] to which he seemed exclusively to

devote his entire activity. For our own part, we in return promised Dr.

Junghuhn to make most special inquiries upon the subject during the period

of our stay in the native country of the Cinchona, and to endeavour to be

able to answer to the questions we were charged with; as by so doing we

hoped to repay in some degree our tribute of gratitude, for the countless

instances of personal interest and attention which had been shown us by

the scientific gentlemen in Java, as well as by all the government

officials.

Adjoining Junghuhn's dwelling, a large proportion of the coffee beans

raised in the Preanger district are prepared for the European market. The

Government has farmed the process to one M. Phlippan, and first deals with

the beans when, packed in sacks, they are ready for exportation. The

entire coffee crop of the environs of Bandong, averaging about 80,000

piculs (or 10,000,000 lbs.), is conveyed annually over the hills to

Lembang, where the fleshy berries are first shelled and made ready. For

this purpose they use the Brazilian or moist mode of treatment, by which

process, however, according to the opinion of connoisseurs in coffee

beans, much of their flavour must be lost. But, instead of attributing the

well-marked decrease of flavour of the Java coffee bean to this mode of

preparation,[57] others are disposed to find the cause of this

deterioration in degeneration of the coffee-shrub itself, and accordingly

the Dutch Government sent out to Java the well-known botanist Professor

Vriese (with appointments[58] which must appear almost fabulous to a

German botanist), in order to determine upon scientific data the cause of

the falling off of the coffee bean. The sending out to Java a Professor of

the University of Leyden, who had never before been in the Dutch East

Indies, in order to enlighten the practical coffee planters, already on

the spot, as to the deterioration of that plant, made anything but a

favourable impression. Some bitter wags, indeed, of whom there is no lack

in Java, any more than of Punches or Charivari at home, said that the

mission of Professor Vriese was as singular as if a native Javanese had

been despatched to Holland in order to teach the farmers there how to make

_cheese_.

Nevertheless, the solution of this question of the degeneracy of the

coffee is of the very highest importance to the country, as it produces

annually about 800,000 piculs (100,000,000 lbs.) coffee beans,[59] and as

its climate and soil are eminently suitable for a far more extended

development of that branch of cultivation, which was first introduced from

Mocha into Java, about 1718, by the then Governor, Hendrik

Zwoardecroon.[60] The entire coffee crop must be delivered by the coffee

planters to the Government at a fixed price, and while paying in the

interior 3-1/2 guilders (5_s._ 10_d._) per picul (125 lbs.), it fetches in

Batavia, where the people are far more heavily taxed, 9 guilders (15_s._)

per picul. The Netherlands Trading Company (_Nederlandsche

Handels-Maatschappy_), which possesses the sole right of shipment, pays

the Dutch Government from 28 to 30 guilders (46_s._ 8_d._ to 50_s._) per

picul of coffee, which it sells in the European market for its own

account. How thoroughly such a monopoly must check the growth of trade and

commerce may be best seen in the stagnation of haughty old Batavia, as

compared with the youthful, flourishing free port of Singapore. The Dutch

Government has, however, within the last few years taken a stride in the

direction of liberalism, and has thrown open a portion of the products of

the Island (as, for example, sugar, the whole of which Government itself

had hitherto sent to Holland) to public auction on the spot; and it is

hoped this system may ultimately be extended to other colonial products,

especially coffee, and that a little later, not alone Batavia, Samarang,

and Soerabaya may be declared free, but that all the harbours may be

thrown open to free trade. With this question of free interchange of

commodities is intimately bound up that of compulsory labour, which

consists in the natives of the interior being compelled to work for the

Government at certain fixed rates. In all districts where the Government

owns coffee or other plantations, the cultivation of these must be

attended to by the natives of the nearest villages, for a remuneration

fixed by the Government. The coolies or porters must, for the fixed price

of 2-1/2 or 3 doits per paal, carry goods or do service as runners or

messengers, while free labour is at least four times as dear. A party,

strongly supported at home, has arisen in Java, advocating the doing away

with compulsory labour throughout the island, but, owing to the many

important interests imperilled by such a policy, it has been very

generally repudiated. It is impossible in Java to broach the topic of

doing away with compulsory servitude without inaugurating an envenomed

discussion. For this question concerns many planters and Government

officials not less closely than that of the abolition of slavery does the

planters of the southern States of America. On this point we have heard

such widely different opinions pronounced by experienced, thoughtful,

impartial men, that we are the less disposed to express, on the occasion

of so short a visit as ours, any decided sentiments, since such would have

probably been entirely changed, or at all events modified, if we had lived

all our lives among the natives, and had become better acquainted with

their customs and peculiarities of character.

It is believed--such at least is the general impression--that in a land so

favoured by Nature as Java there is but little to be hoped for from free

labour, as the requirements of the natives are very limited, and easily

satisfied. Abandoned to his own impulses of activity, the Javanese would

only work sufficiently to supply what was necessary for his mere

subsistence, or would only perform any extra duties so long as the

imposition of regular labour does not set itself in direct antagonism with

his docile, gentle disposition. The manners and customs of the country,

the condition of the populace relative to their princes and chiefs, are

favourable to the condition of forced labour, in which they have been

confirmed by their Dutch conquerors, thus rendering it less perceptible

and intolerable. It is patent to all that since the introduction in 1830

by General Van den Bosch of the Culture system, or system of compulsory

labour, the internal state of the colony has enormously benefited,[61] and

the revenues of the Government increased in a most extraordinary degree.

In fact, what is known as the _Batig Stal_, or balance of the colonial

administration for the past year (1859), gave a total of 41,000,000

guilders (L3,416,000). But the pecuniary profits which the State Treasury

wrings from the labour of its subjects are, unfortunately (as was amply

proved in the South American colonies during the days of Spanish

ascendency), not always a correct standard of the prosperity of a country

or of the felicity of its inhabitants.

In company of Dr. Vrij the geologist of our Expedition ascended from

Lembang the volcano of Tangkuban Prahu, whence, following an excellent

route of travel drawn up by Dr. Junghuhn, he was enabled to visit all the

more important points of geological interest in the Preanger Regency. Of

these two highly interesting excursions, which derived an additional charm

from the cordial hospitality of the Javanese princes, we borrow from Dr.

Hochstetter's memoranda the following particulars:--

"On the northern side of the table-land of Bandong, which is a veritable

garden of Eden, hemmed in by roaring volcanic mountains, there rises a

mountain-chain 6000 feet above the level of the sea, and 4000 above the

lofty plateau of Bandong. In this range three peaks are conspicuous. The

native, accustomed to indicate each majestic natural feature of his lovely

native land by some name which gives a clear idea of its peculiar

character, or expresses the emotion it makes upon his senses, has named

the easternmost truncated conical peak Gunung Tungul (7800 feet), that is,

the Broken Stump or Tree, and affirms that the long central ridge of

Tangkuban Prahu (6427 feet), or the Inverted Boat, was formed by the

overturned trunk of the tree, while the third very serrated peak, the

Buranguang (5690 feet), or Boughs of the Tree, forms the crown of the tree

with its branches and twigs. Only the long central ridge, the actual hill,

though its shape would not readily lead us to suppose so, is at this day

an active volcano. Its crater is one of the most extraordinary spectacles

in the volcanic system of Java. Formerly it was necessary to follow in the

tracks of the rhinoceroses up the sides of this mountain, and the ascent

was not indeed without danger, since it occasionally happened that the

traveller, while treading some of these funnel-shaped, narrow, tremendous

defiles, unexpectedly found himself at some sudden turn face to face with

one of these gigantic animals, and that, with a precipice on one hand and

a wall of rock on the other, there was no visible means of escaping. Under

such circumstances there was nothing for it but to fight for life and

death, until the stronger marched over the corpse of the weaker. At

present an excellent bridle-path leads from Lembang to the summit of the

mountain, for the construction of which the community is indebted to Dr.

Junghuhn.

"On the morning of 18th May we set out from Lembang for the summit of

Tangkuban Prahu, in company with Dr. de Vrij. The Regent of Bandong had

sent us capital horses of the pure Macassar race, and, followed by a crowd

of well-disciplined Sundanese, we at length after a two hours' ride stood

at the edge of the crater.

"Dense clouds of vapour filled the abyss below, from which at a

considerable depth and in various directions issued the most appalling

sounds, as though hundreds of steam engines were sobbing at work far

beneath us, or like the broken sound of water falling in spray from a

great height upon the rocks. Some dead trees standing on the brink of the

abyss had a blackened appearance as though they had been charred, which we

ascribed to the sulphureous vapours, that must be evolved with most

destructive power when the crater is in full activity. Into this hideous

abyss we now prepared to descend, by a narrow, steep ledge of the rock,

which gradually lost itself among the vapour between two perpendicular,

precipitous walls. We followed the Javanese, who were scrambling down

before us, having ourselves given orders to be conducted if possible to

the bottom of the crater, and therefore continued on as best we could,

confident that those people had already often descended into the depths to

get themselves sulphur.

"Fortunately the vapours dispersed during our arduous clamber, and there

at one view lay plain before us the fearful chasm from its floor to the

rim running round it. With amazement and surprise, we perceived that the

ledge on which we stood was but a narrow central ridge, separating two

deep nearly circular volcanic cauldrons, which were both surrounded by a

lofty ellipse-shaped crater-wall! There was also a singular double or twin

crater. In both cavities, right and left, white clouds of steam rose

hissing and sputtering to the height of the rim. In the left-hand or

western crater, which the natives called _Kawah Upas_, or the Poison

Crater, we perceived in the midst of the smoking _solfataras_ a tranquil

pool of water of a sulphur-yellow hue, while the lofty internal slopes of

the crater, nearly 1000 feet high, were densely covered with brushwood,

down almost to the bottom. Very different was the eastern crater, _Kawah

Ratu_, or King's Crater; its floor seemed to consist of dried mud, from

the clefts and springs in which steam and sulphureous vapours were

constantly bursting impetuously forth. The wall of this crater, not above

500 or 600 feet high, was naked and bare to the very summit. At the first

glance one could almost fancy he gazed on an expanse of snow amid a green

forest, so bleached and greyish-white did everything look, owing to the

rocks being pulverized and changed by the vapours which continually issued

from the soil. Above these white desolate masses of rock were

distinguishable the blackened, charred, knotted stems of bushes and trunks

of trees, the relics of the vegetation formerly here, tokens of the last

eruption in 1846, in which this King's Crater threw up boiling mud,

impregnated with sulphur, besides sand and stones, till throughout an

extended area the green forests on every side were killed or desolated.

Already however the rich green of the fern, and the _Thibaudia_ (not

unlike our own whortleberry), is seen shooting up amidst the bare stones,

in close proximity to the blackened trees and shrubs, charred and altered

by the action of the sulphureous vapours and the soil, impregnated as it

is with sulphur.

"Continuing to scramble forward, we reached in safety the floor of the

Poison Crater, and had to observe the greatest vigilance, for the entire

ground around the boiling lake in the crater to the steep walls consists

of nothing but smoking solfataras, or a dense crust of sulphur, full of

holes and fissures, over the cooled surface of which the traveller walks,

constantly in danger of breaking through, not indeed into a fathomless

abyss, but into boiling hot, bitter water, in which we would counsel no

one to take a foot-bath. If the crust be broken off, there are seen

shining beneath the most exquisite lustrous crystals of sulphur. This

sulphur, which is exhibited here piled up in immense masses like small

hills, is the same as that which occasionally entices the Javanese into

these appalling abysses. The most powerful solfatara, which lies exactly

in the middle ridge, and like a geyser throws up to a height apparently of

one or two feet a column of boiling water, consisting in part of sulphur,

is for that reason unapproachable by man.

"From the Poison Crater we climbed over into the King's Crater. The hard

masses of rubbish thrown out during the last eruption afforded firm

footing here, until we got near the sputtering solfataras, when the hot

yielding mud made further progress impracticable.

"The visit to these two craters, which change features from year to year,

furnished much material for observation. It was long past noon when we

retraced our steps upwards along the precipitous path by which we had

descended. Ere long we found ourselves once more on the summit, protected

from the sun's vertical rays by the grateful shelter of the hut which

Junghuhn had erected here, and from which we could take in at one glance,

in all its vast proportions, the entire abyss, with its two smoking

craters in all their horrid sublimity. The oval of the exterior rim

measures not less than 6000 feet in length by 3000 in breadth, and from

the upper wall the descent sheer into the abyss is not less than 800 feet

perpendicular.

"This was the last crater which we had an opportunity of visiting while

in Java--our further peregrinations being directed towards the schistose

formation abounding in petrifactions, which is found in the S.W. mountain

range of the table-land of Bandong.

"On the evening of the 18th, after we had returned from Tangkuban Prahu,

we left Lembang, still in the company of Dr. de Vrij, who sacrificed his

own convenience to accompany us throughout our interesting tour, and

returned to Bandong.

"Junghuhn had sketched out a second _carte de voyage_, which he had sent

to the Resident of Bandong, with a request that this gentleman would make

all necessary preparations to enable the projected excursion to be made in

the shortest possible time, and for our comfort while on the road. We thus

found everything prepared beforehand, and, after passing a most agreeable

evening with the Resident and the Regent of Bandong, the latter of whom

caused his dancing-girls to execute in our presence some of their most

characteristic national dances, we were enabled to start early the

following morning to prosecute our journey further among the mountains.

"Gratitude to M. Visscher, the Assistant Resident, and to Raden Adipata

Wira Nata Kusuma, the Regent of Bandong,[62] makes it an imperative duty

that we should make the most ample acknowledgment for the great pains

taken by both those gentlemen to enable us, without losing time consulting

about other cares, to devote our entire attention to scientific

examination. Indeed, the whole arrangements of this trip may be held to

indicate what the Dutch Government is able to attain by the astute policy

of leaving the executive power entirely in the hands of the native chiefs,

and with what admirable exactness the despotic orders of these two united

powers are carried into execution.

"The brother of the Regent of Bandong, a truly chivalrous soul, but

imperious and full of aristocratic hauteur in his deportment towards the

peasantry, was our companion and guard of honour. All our material

requirements had been cared for by the Regent in the most luxurious

profusion. Four servants and a special cook, together with a number of

coolies, were sent in advance to our next designated resting-place,

sometimes in the heart of a forest, or upon a hill, or in a narrow defile,

so that on our arrival we found our table already set for us. On these

occasions, when there was no Pasanggrahan or comfortable hut at hand for

our mid-day siesta, or for our accommodation at night, we found an elegant

hut of bamboo and palm-leaves (of which materials the Javanese construct

a thousand articles of every-day use) newly erected, and containing

dining-room, sleeping-apartment, and bath-room. In order to travel with as

much celerity as possible, our riding horses were changed three or four

times a day. The fresh animals were everywhere ready for us to mount. At

those points where petrifactions were likely to be found collected

together natives would be sent forward, and that not by twos and threes,

but by dozens and twenties, who were charged to dig and collect together

whatever was found, so that all we had to do was to select what we

required, when we found we had a splendid collection without trouble or

loss of time. Even on roads seldom frequented, in outlying districts among

the mountains, we found everything arranged anew, and we do not exaggerate

when we say that between forty and fifty small bridges and narrow stiles

made of bamboo and with bamboo balustrades must have been constructed

solely to make this path passable. But still more particularly we had

occasion to remark, that when it was necessary to descend into the

defiles, which would naturally be of special interest to a geologist on

account of their explanations of the phenomena of nature, fresh paths had

been made, and all obstacles presented by the rocky soil overcome by means

of steps cut in the rock or bamboo ladders! And all this had been planned

and executed after the Regent had been informed of the day fixed for our

departure from Bandong on our projected tour.

"No fewer than thirty-eight mounted Sundanese, all gaily dressed in their

national costume, being in fact the chiefs and magistrates of the

district, had attached themselves to us with all their retinue, besides a

number of porters to attend upon the cavalcade, by all of whom we were

cordially welcomed. Towards evening we entered amid music and dancing into

the village, which it had been arranged was to be our quarters for the

night, and amid more music, and a general gathering of the population, we

once more, in the grey dawn of the next morning, mounted our horses. Such

is the mode of travel in Java when a Junghuhn prescribes the route, when a

Dutch Government official issues the requisite orders, and when a native

Regent carries them out.

"On the 19th May we set off in an easterly direction from Bandong for the

river Tji-Tarum. Our object was to explore the beautiful natural defile

which is presented by the deep chasm which forms the bed of that stream,

where it has forced a passage in a northerly direction through a

round-backed range of green-stone and porphyritic mountains which spring

from the table-land of Bandong, forming in this part of its course the

beautiful water-falls of Tjuruk-Kapek, Tjuruk-Lanong, and Tjuruk-Djombong.

In close proximity to the very oldest volcanic formations of Java, one

sees here, laid bare by the river, lofty walls of the latest fresh-water

strata of the plateau of Bandong. We now rode through the porphyritic

ridge to the rocky cone of Batu-Susun, on the flank of the Gunung Bulut,

formed of vast columns of a sort of porphyritic green-stone, and the same

evening reached Tjililui, the chief town of the district named Rongga,

owing to its richness in petrifactions. Not greater was our surprise at

our exceedingly hospitable reception, than at beholding, as we sat down to

our evening meal in the Pasanggrahan where we were stopping, a huge table

drawn forth, loaded with petrifactions and geological specimens, which the

Wedanah had collected, and which, classified according to a chart of the

district which he had himself prepared, he now placed at our disposal. The

name of this spirited Sundanese is Mas Djaja Bradja, Wedanah of Tjililui.

"On the 20th we inspected the spot itself where these are found. By

daybreak we were _en route_ for the chalk-kilns of Liotji Tjangkang, where

a coral bank, abounding in petrifactions, lies full in view from the

summit of an adjoining eminence. Hence we directed our steps in a S.E.

direction, getting deeper into the mountains, in the neighbourhood of

Gonnong Gatu, renowned for the numbers of tigers which range the immense

wilderness of _allang_ grass (_Imperata Allang_), which now forms the

covering of these mountains, utterly denuded as they are of their original

vegetation, and in which they find plenty of prey among the stags, wild

boars, and buffaloes. Hunting however was not our object, but the

succession of chasms, 100 feet deep, worn through the soft pumice and

trachytic tufas by the action of the Tji-Lanang and its little tributary

streams. First we had to scramble down to the confluence of the Tji-Burial

and the Tji-Tangkil, where, in close proximity to the dykes of trachyte,

several well-preserved _conchylia_ were found amid the rubbish that had

been detached from the sides of this cavity, which are composed of a sort

of muddy tufa. After riding at full speed through a thinly-inhabited

mountain district, in order to avoid an impending thunder-storm, we

luckily reached the little mountain village of Gunung-Alu, lying on the

Tji-Dadass, at the foot of a mountain ridge, which forms the water-shed

between the northern and southern coasts of Java.

"On 21st May we set off for the valley of the Tji-Lanang, which stretches

beneath the steep sandstone acclivities of the Gunung Sela, another spot

where petrifactions are exceedingly abundant, and where the remains of the

fossils may be observed in the position they originally occupied, imbedded

in the strata of mud and sandstone. A species of fossil resin is also

frequently found there, in juxtaposition with other beautiful fossils.

From this point we followed the valley of the Tji-Lanang in a northerly

direction, and on quitting it we came upon a little traversed road leading

to the valley of the Tji-Tjamotha, at the calcareous-brecciose rocks of

Batu-Kakapa, and still further on reached the mountainous village of

Tji-Jabang, whence we descended once more to the river Tji-Tarum, which at

this point passes through a narrow cleft in the rock, more than a thousand

feet deep, forming thus the grandest waterfall in Java, as it breaks

through the western barrier range of the plateau of Bandong, consisting

of porphyritic green-stone, trachytic-basalt, and perpendicular cliffs of

chalk. Below this, after a series of splendid cascades, it becomes a

navigable stream, flowing gently over the terrace of Radjamandala.

"The majestic scale of the natural scenery of Java is seen fully developed

in these savage, awful rocky defiles, shaded by primeval forest, and

haunted by every description of wild animal. There are three points of

special interest, Tjukang-Raon, Tjuruk-Almion, and Sangjang-Holut, at any

of which one may study in the very bowels of the earth the geognostical

structure of the Lanang chain, where the river has burst through. These

points lie quite near to each other on the edge of the stream which here

frets in its channel, hemmed closely by the rocks, but in order to reach

any one of them it is always necessary to retrace one's steps to the

village of Tji-jabang, on the plateau of the mountain, and thence scramble

down and up again the precipitous rocky wall in height from 1000 to 1600

feet! One can readily believe what Junghuhn writes in 1854, that 'although

Tjurak-Almion' (dust or vapour fall) 'is the grandest waterfall in Java,

no European had, as yet, visited the spot but himself.' It was here

especially that we had occasion to notice what pains the natives had taken

to render the various localities more accessible. We found fresh-hewn

steps, ladders, and Rotang ropes, and thus we were enabled, so to speak,

to tread in the footsteps of Junghuhn.

"On the 21st we could only visit the Tjuruk-Baon, where the Tji-Tarum,

raging along in its entire volume, is compelled to pass through a gate of

rock not above 12 feet wide. A frail-looking bamboo ladder, with Rotang

ropes suspended on either side at a dizzy elevation above, leads down the

perpendicular walls of this stone portal.

"On the morning of the 22nd we visited Tjuruk-Almion, the finest waterfall

of the Tji-Tarum, which is here precipitated over a precipice of

green-stone forty feet in height, and thence, after passing the steep

basaltic chain of Gunung-Lanang, we descended from a height of 2653 Paris

feet, into the deepest part (990 Paris feet above sea-level) of the chasm

formed by volcanic eruption in the mountain Sangjang-Holut, where close to

the steep broken rim, and in juxtaposition to the tertiary formations on

the level of Radjamandala, the perpendicular sandstone banks of the river

leave a passage only 10 feet in width.

"The same day we reached the little village of Gua, at the foot of the

northern side of Gunung Nungnang, an enormous mass of limestone, whose

steep sides form a portion of the extensive limestone barrier, which

bounds the table-land of Radjamandala to the southward. Gunung Nungnang is

traversed by fissures and clefts from top to bottom, in which the Salangan

swallow builds edible nests, which the natives gather for the Regent, not

without peril to life.

"On the 23rd May we carefully explored Sangjang Tji-Koro, a

limestone-hill, through which one arm of the Tji-Tarum, after it has

burst through the barrier-ridge, flows in a subterranean channel;

interesting in a geological point of view, because at this point we find

the very same limestone rocks which in an upright position form the

structure of the hill, lying horizontally on the flat plain of

Radjamandala, on the opposite bank of this brook. At Radjamandala we once

more struck the main road, and found our travelling chaise ready, which

conveyed us to Tjiandjur, and thence back to Batavia."

While the geologist of our Expedition was occupied in the excursion above

described, the commodore and his companions witnessed a most interesting

spectacle in an ethnographical point of view. The Javanese Regent of

Tjiandjur prepared a great fete, to which all the populace were invited,

in the great hall of the palace, where a variety of entertainments, games,

and dramatic representations took place. Here, as at Bandong, the interior

of the house was entirely furnished in the European fashion, and only the

ear-splitting, deafening tones of the gamelong,[63] the stout, bustling

female house-keeper, who, richly apparelled and wearing yellow

unmentionables, did the honours with a somewhat waddling gait, and the

Oriental dress of the Regent, behind whom a couple of Javanese servants,

crouched on their hams, carrying a neatly-carved silver box of exquisite

workmanship, containing the ingredients for the betel, recalled to our

recollection that we were in Java, in the residence of a native prince.

The stiff, troublesome formalities of the Dutch were outdone by those of

the Javanese: nay, so great is the observance of etiquette by these

people, that even the nearest relatives of the house are fain to take up

their place in the verandah or colonnade which runs round the house, but

do not dare venture into the saloon itself. In this latter, besides the

Regent and his consort, there were only the European guests invited, while

the people thronged the doors and windows as spectators of what was going

on. The fete began with some very monotonous, infinitely tedious dances

executed by the _Bayaderes_. In the choreographic art, despite the

important part which dancing plays in their religious worship, the

Javanese, like all the other populations of Asia, lag far behind the

natives of the north. True, the dance with them has a widely different

meaning, compared with that which we attach to it, who waltz and polka

away in joyous, frolicsome mood, whereas the Asiatics, the Malay and the

Hindoo, also dance during seasons of grief and anguish; with them dancing

is nothing but a mode of expressing their feelings, whether these be grave

or gay, joyous or sad. And so deeply is this custom implanted among the

coloured races, that we have ourselves seen in Costa Rica Indian parents,

who had been converted to Christianity, dancing before the dead body of

their child, which was about being committed to consecrated earth.[64]

The figures of the dance performed by the Javanese dancing-girls were

nothing but a series of very slow rigid movements of advance and retreat,

in the course of which they went through all sorts of attitudes and

contortions with their hands and fingers. We were informed that these

dancers were representing four sisters who were searching for their lost

mother, and by their various postures and figuring hoped to obtain her

again from the deity. This exhibition was succeeded by a war-dance,

performed by eight maidens clothed as warriors, which however scarcely

differed from the former, and was not less tedious. These dancers all

appeared in extremely elegant richly-appointed dresses, which

unfortunately only made the ugliness of their features more disagreeably

conspicuous. Amid all these representations the deep boom of the gamelong

almost unceasingly resounded in our ears, being struck, evidently for the

purpose of stunning the senses, by a crowd of Javanese cowering on the

ground with their feet crossed beneath them, while from without there fell

on our ear the tunes of a brass band, especially noticeable by its

overpowering penetrating sound. About 10 P.M. a number of rockets and

fire-wheels were let off, and a disorderly crowd of maskers, on horse and

foot, to the great delight of the assembled populace, made their

appearance and marched about a dozen times round the great room. The chief

honours of the entire procession were reserved for a transparent serpent,

at least 20 feet long, which was borne along in the air by six or eight

youths, who imitated with surprising address the wriggling motions of that

lithe reptile.

To a European observer, however, what was going on in one corner of the

great room seemed far more extraordinary and surprising. A number of

native fanatics were standing here round a heap of red-hot coals and

ashes, before which a Mahometan priest, holding in his hand a small open

book, was murmuring a prayer, accompanied by doleful cries and

unintelligible groans. Several natives sprang barefooted into the fire,

and turned about several times in its midst. The priest also, singing and

praying the while, skipped upon the red-hot floor, apparently with the

intention of inciting the by-standers to yet further exertions. The whole

exhibition bore the character of being a form of religious expiation,

although it was carried on amid all the noise and fun of a popular

festival.

A still more painful impression was made by several Javanese, who placed

iron circlets set with fine sharp points on the cheeks, forehead, and

eyes, and thus accoutred, twisted their bodies about in every conceivable

direction, as though they were striving all they could to drill deep into

their flesh with this heavy iron instrument. The leading idea contemplated

in this rude fearsome exhibition, seems, however, to have been simply to

amuse a circle of curious spectators, and gain their applause.

The Javanese Regent, Radhen Adhipati Aria Kusuma Ningrat, who gave this

fete, a tall, robust man, of about fifty years of age, is held in high

esteem by the inhabitants of his district, not alone for his political

worth, but also for his intellectual qualities. He is an author and a

poet, and availed himself of the opportunity to present to the foreign

guests his last poem, an epic.

Early on the morning of the 17th the entire company of travellers set out

from Tjiandjur on their return to Batavia by the Java road, by which they

had come. The naturalists, too, did not leave the capital of the Preanger

Residency without substantial tokens of amity, since a medical gentleman

settled there, Dr. I. Ch. Ploem, presented them with a number of

interesting specimens, botanical and zoological, and not alone enriched

their collections in natural history with many new objects, but also

promised in future to maintain an active interchange of objects of

scientific interest with the museum of the Empire-city on the Danube.

The journey back to Buitenzorg, despite a tremendous thunder-storm,

accompanied by such a shower as is only encountered in the tropics, was

nevertheless pretty quickly got over, and even one trifling adventure

which was encountered on the way--in the course of which one of the

travelling carriages fell into a ditch on one side of the road, near

Megamendung, in consequence of which the coachman and attendants were

somewhat injured by their sudden precipitation from the box--had no more

serious ulterior consequences than that we had to get out of the carriage

for a short space under a deluge of rain, so as to admit of its being more

readily put into running order again. Despite the inclemency of the

weather we were on this occasion accompanied on horseback by the

magistrates of the villages through which we passed, and although many of

these were shivering and chattering with the wet and cold, they were

nevertheless inexorable in assisting to send us forward, and though not

required to do so, accompanied us to our next station, where their place

was supplied by others not less attentive.

While still on the road, the commodore and several members of the

Expedition received an invitation from the Governor-general to stop at his

summer residence of Buitenzorg, and to make it for some days their

resting-place. It was unfortunate, that this display of hospitality was

somewhat weakened in cordiality by a too rigid observance of those minor

matters of etiquette, which his Excellency seemed to think he could not

afford to dispense with even in his quiet, unostentatious country-seat.

The stringent observance of such unbending measured ceremony is the more

remarkable, in the case of a man who has raised himself from an obscure

grade of citizenship to this lofty post, and who does not even indulge in

that lavish expense or profuse luxury, which would at least be in harmony

with the ceremonial usages with which he surrounds himself. M. Van Pahud

came to Batavia about twenty years before, as a school-master, and ere

long, having become an employe in the civil service, secured through his

administrative capacity, and restless activity, the confidence and

sympathies of the Government, was somewhat later appointed Colonial

Minister in Holland, and finally, in 1856, Governor-general of the Dutch

East Indies. The introduction of the _quinquina_ plant from Peru and its

present extension throughout Java, are his chief claims to recognition.

As M. Van Pahud is a widower, the honours of his mansion were performed by

his daughter, a lady in delicate health, who a few years previously had

the distressing trial of beholding her husband, who filled one of the most

important posts as Resident at a Regency in the interior, cut down before

her eyes by a Malay!

We spent a couple of days in this charming retreat of Buitenzorg, whose

botanical garden ever unfolded fresh beauties, and had the pleasure on

this, as on the occasion of our first visit, to make several most

agreeable acquaintances. A deep interest attaches to our visit to Madame

Hartmann, the widow of a former Resident in Borneo, who possesses a small

but every way remarkable collection of ethnographic objects illustrative

of that island, and who not alone had the thoughtful courtesy to show us

all these treasures of natural history, but even presented us with a

considerable portion of them. The writer of this account felt himself in

an especial degree under obligation to this excellent lady for a number of

skeletons of the various races of men inhabiting that island, which it

would have been exceedingly difficult to procure otherwise. There existed

but one object in this anthropological collection with which Madame

Hartmann would not part: this was the skull of a Chinaman, who, during the

fearful insurrection of these emigrants in Borneo in 1819, made a

murderous onslaught on her husband, whose servants fortunately succeeded

in rendering timely aid by cutting the miscreant down.

Early on 20th May we quitted Buitenzorg. On the same morning two criminals

accused of murder and robbery were brought thither. Although the

punishment of death is only inflicted in cases of extreme atrocity, yet we

were informed that in the capital scarcely a month passes without the

infliction of this last penalty.

On our return to Batavia we once more found ourselves the objects of that

charming hospitality, to which we are indebted for the memory of many most

agreeable hours.

There was one gentleman in particular, a German countryman, Colonel Von

Schierbrand, who has lived nearly thirty years in Java, and at present

holds the high position of head of the Engineer department and President

of the Topographical Institute, who most hospitably entertained the

voyagers of the _Novara_ in his elegant, comfortable dwelling, and

arranged a variety of amusements and agreeable receptions.[65] Among

these, the gentlemen who took part in it will long have a special

recollection of a hunting party, which, owing to the great interest taken

by all classes of the community near the seat of action, abounding in

antelopes and wild hogs, became ultimately a regular ovation and popular

festival. At various points arches covered with leaves were erected, flags

fluttered to the breeze on every side, and all along our path the

inhabitants, gaily attired, formed a dense array lining the road; while

the evening was whiled away in the elegantly furnished mansion of a

Chinese, the Mayor of his district, by Javanese dancing-girls, who

performed a variety of national dances to the monotonous, lugubrious sound

of the gamelong and other musical instruments, after which there was a

comedy, the whole winding up with Chinese fire-works on the grandest

scale.

Another splendid entertainment was got up in honour of the _Novara_

Expedition by the military "Concordia" society, in their large, handsome

assembly-room in Weltevreden. The dancing-hall was tastefully fitted up,

adorned with blue and green hangings and parti-coloured flags, while over

the entrance was suspended a portrait of our Emperor. In the background of

the saloon there was set up in front of a transparency an elegant boat,

with an Austrian flag at the gaff, and carrying a cannon crowned with

flowers and nautical emblems, all artistically designed and executed. The

stewards all wore red and white ribbons round their dress, while the rich

attire of the ladies consisted principally of stuffs in the Austrian

colours. When the commander of the Expedition entered the saloon with his

staff, the band struck up the Austrian National Hymn. The whole festivity

went off most agreeably, and the majority of the company, which numbered

about 800 guests, kept it up till daybreak. Both Dutch and Austrian

officers vied with each other in making this a truly fraternal feast.

Still as the band played on, there seemed no end to the fun and frolic,

and one pair of joyous spirits suddenly bethought them of the droll idea

of hauling the cannon "with all its honours thick upon it" through the

apartment, with a not less frolicsome comrade sitting astride it, singing

and shouting! Unluckily, during this peregrination one of the Dutch

officers fell under the wheel, and had his thigh broken near the knee. The

unfortunate had to be conveyed to the hospital forthwith, where for weeks

he could ruminate upon the consequences of a moment's misplaced revelry.

This gentleman, singularly enough, had just retired home and gone to bed,

when a couple of his comrades insisted on his accompanying them, amid much

cheering and noise, back to the apartment, where the accident happened to

him!

One remarkable character in Batavia, whose acquaintance we only made

during the latter days of our stay, is Raden Saleh, a Javanese of high

birth, and princely descent, who, born in 1816 at Djokjokarta in the

interior of the island, was at the expense of the Dutch Government brought

to Europe when a boy of 14, where he lived for a long time at the Hague,

and afterwards in Dresden and Paris, turning his attention chiefly to

painting, and who, after 23 years' absence, had returned to Java shortly

before our arrival. Raden Saleh, who speaks and writes several European

languages with fluency, draws a not inconsiderable sum yearly from the

Colonial Government, by way of remuneration for pictures which he is from

time to time commissioned to paint for Government House. At the period of

our visit the artist was busy engaged in executing for the King of Holland

a large oil-painting, representing a stag-hunt on the plain of Mundschul,

in the Preanger Regency, at the foot of the Malabar range. The

composition, the landscape, the aerial perspective, the attitudes and

grouping of the mounted huntsmen, gave evidence of uncommon talent, which

unfortunately, however, has not been cultivated to that extent as to

enable him to stamp all his performances with the impress of artistic

perfection. Raden Saleh cherishes a warm feeling for Germany, which even

his placid, delightful residence among the Eden-like landscapes of his own

native land has not been able to weaken. "I owe so much to Germany," he

would say to us; "my thoughts and my feelings ever revert to Germany!" It

seemed that in his case, as in that of the young negro prince, Aquasie

Boachi, of the Gold Coast, considerations of health were the main reason

for his return to the Dutch East Indies.

The last days of our stay at Batavia we devoted to an inspection of

various public institutions. First of all we carefully examined the

barracks, which present several points of special interest. Major Smits

was so kind as to accompany us over the extensive grounds, in which were

at the time some 800 men. The soldiers are all volunteers, and consist of

about 250 whites, and 600 of the various coloured races of the Malay

Archipelago. The white troops sleep in beds, the coloured upon wooden

settles covered with mosquito-nets. Each soldier is allowed to have his

wife beside him, and it is affirmed that this extraordinary practice tends

to make them more orderly and regular, by accustoming them more speedily

to life in the barrack, which thus becomes for them a sort of small town!

The women for their part prove highly serviceable as cooks, washerwomen,

vendors of edibles, &c., and manage a sort of small market for each

company, where the soldier can find everything he may require for

satisfying his usually very moderate wants.

Major Smits ordered a number of the soldiers, representatives of the most

important Malay types, to be submitted to a series of anthropometrical

measurements, and made a present to the Expedition of a number of objects

of ethnographical interest.

In company with Dr. Steenstra Toussaint, an ardent and amiable companion,

we visited the various prisons, and the Loar-Badang,[66] of evil repute,

which will be discussed in the medical section of the _Novara_

publications.

The prisons of Batavia stand in much need of reform, especially as regards

construction, management, and treatment. The humane sentiments that

characterize our century, have more care even for a robber or murderer

than to load him with chains, and make him still more dangerous to

society, by lengthened confinement within the thick lofty walls of a

prison. There are two categories, into which all criminals in Java are

divided, those who during the entire term of their sentence are to remain

within the prison, and those who during the day are employed outside the

prison on the public works, most of whom wear an iron ring round their

neck, or chains on their hands or feet, whence they are usually termed

"chain-gang" prisoners.

In the city Bridewell, where the criminals serve their sentences in cells,

there is room for 200, and at the time of our visit there were 70 male and

two female prisoners in confinement. The disagreeable impression made at

finding such an establishment located in an exceedingly unhealthy site, is

anything but diminished when the visitor perceives that it consists mainly

of a large number of narrow corridors and high walls running parallel

with each other at short distances, between which the prisoners, in

divisions of from six to ten, are confined in small cells, two

occasionally inhabiting the same cell. Those condemned to imprisonment for

debt are shut up in a special compartment, apart from the common run of

criminals, but in respect of accommodation and general treatment are in no

respect better off than the latter. The law permits the incarceration of a

debtor for three years, but the creditor is compelled to pay 10 guilders a

month (L10 per annum), to defray the cost of his maintenance. It is

illustrative of the Chinese character, and its speculative propensities,

that hardly any of that nation are to be found on the criminal side,

whereas they furnish the longest quota of those imprisoned for debt. We

saw one Javanese woman, who of her own free will submitted to be

imprisoned with her husband who had been condemned to several years'

incarceration, although she could only communicate with him in the

presence of witnesses, and had to live in an entirely different part of

the building.

In the prison where the "chain-gangers" were confined, there were 170

prisoners.[67] Owing to the circumstance that those committed in Batavia

are draughted off to the prisons in the interior, while those sentenced in

the provinces are sent to fulfil their sentences in the prisons of

Batavia, the stranger encounters in these latter numerous peculiar types

of natives from the various districts of Java and the adjoining islands,

and this rare opportunity was made use of by myself and Dr. Schwarz to

obtain some corporeal measurements of individuals presenting the

characteristics of their respective races, as had already been done in the

barracks.

Dr. Toussaint presented the Expedition with several pathological

preparations, as also with one curiosity rather of historical than

scientific interest, namely, the skull of a man, found a few years before

in the maw of a shark which had been picked up dead at sea!

A very singular impression was left on us by a visit we paid to "Meester

Cornelis," a sort of bazaar in the outskirts of Batavia, where a singular

phase of life may be seen nightly in full activity. On a wide open square

are a large number of booths, in which are sold all sorts of eatables and

drinkables, while there is at the same time no lack of dancing-girls,

Javanese musicians, opium-dens, gambling "hells," and other

breeding-places of human depravity. The majority of its frequenters are

Chinese, who spend here in the most extravagant manner what they have

earned during the day. They especially affect the filthy little closets,

where for a couple of doits (a halfpenny English) they can lie stretched

out in a pitiable state of stupefaction, the result of opium-smoking, but

are likewise by no means backward in patronizing the gambling booths. A

group of these half-naked children of the Celestial Empire, seated in a

circle on the ground amid the flare of torches and lamps, each holding in

his lean hand a pair of greasy, well-worn cards, and with a little heap of

copper or silver pieces spread out before him, following the chances of

the game with a wild eagerness that makes him utterly heedless of what is

passing around him, presents a spectacle of such powerful interest, that

the beholder, especially if a foreigner, likes to remain amid a scene so

peculiar, despite its repulsiveness. The most melancholy consideration

perhaps of all is that this form of dissipation seems by no means

indigenous to Java, but was first introduced with many other forms of vice

under the influence of foreign civilization.

For the observant traveller, a visit to such so-called "places of

amusement" possesses a far deeper interest than theatres or operas, which

one may see and hear among the various settlements in this Archipelago.

Such wandering companies, even those which are as highly remunerated as

the "troupes" who minister to the aesthetic tastes of the wealthy

inhabitants of the countries beyond sea,[68] or rather to an indispensable

fashion, must awaken among European visitors melancholy reminiscences of

vanished triumphs of art. Thus Batavia, during our stay, could boast a

French operatic company. The theatre, lofty and airy, though of but one

storey, without either boxes or gallery, had far more the appearance of a

concert-room than a regular theatre. The rather heavy cost was defrayed by

lotteries, which were set on foot by the Colonial Government from time to

time for the behoof of the funds of the theatre. Several of the

"cantatrices" carry on simultaneously with their engagements a lucrative

business in French articles for the toilette, while the men-singers give

instruction in vocalization, by which they not merely eke out their

living, but contribute handsomely to the annoyance of their next-door

neighbours.

There is but little sociability in Batavia. The people live in a

thoroughly retired manner, each usually receiving only a small circle of

friends in his own house. On this point, as on many others, our _own_

experience is _directly contrary_ to the actual state of matters, seeing

that during our entire stay one invitation followed on the heels of

another;--but those who live here for years together, even under the most

favourable auspices, have repeatedly assured us that life in Batavia is

unsociable and tedious.

This is the misfortune of all countries "beyond sea," where Europeans do

not settle permanently, but flock thither with the intention, after a

certain number of years of industry and activity, of returning home with a

fortune made by their own personal exertions. We see this in Brazil, in

the West Indies, in the Western coast of South America; in a word, in all

tropical or sub-tropical countries where, on account of climatic

considerations, the greater part of the European population is changed

every ten years, and is recruited by fresh arrivals from Europe. How out

of place, accordingly, does social or intellectual life appear in such

countries, as compared with the colonies settled in temperate climates, in

North America, at the Cape, in Australia, in New Zealand, in all of which

the immigrant population is of a fixed character, building up for

themselves a second home, and clinging with love and gratitude to the soil

that gives them sustenance, and on which their sons will grow up, under

the invigorating influences of free institutions, into free, prosperous,

self-relying men!

Even in Batavia the majority of the European residents change every eight

or ten years; instances such as that of Colonel von Schierbrand, of men

who during 30 years have never once left the island, never yet seen a

railroad, being of rare occurrence.

Of the numerous friends whom we were so fortunate as to make during our

stay in Java, and to whom such heart-felt thanks are due for their

hospitality and the warm interest they took in the objects of our

Expedition,[69] many have since left the island for ever, and by their

return to Europe left many a lamentable vacancy.[70] The more deserving

of acknowledgment is the constant endeavour of the present Colonial

Government to attract to itself fresh intelligence, and so not alone

stimulate the scientific activity of the present, but also provide for the

filling up of the various posts by properly qualified persons. The

magnificent and expensive works which have been published of late years in

Java by men of science, are the splendid fruit of that noble-minded

support, and it is much to be regretted that the Government does not

extend this liberality to their _political_ system,--that despite the

glorious example in their own immediate neighbourhood of the results of

English Free Trade, Government still cramps the energies of the colony

with monopolies and privileges, and thereby checks the development of a

country, which, alike by its position and its manifold natural advantages,

bids fair to be one of the wealthiest and most prosperous countries in the

world.

At seven A.M. on the 29th May, the _Novara_ weighed anchor in the roads of

Batavia, after a stay of 23 days. Our next visit was to be paid to the

Philippine Archipelago,--to the flourishing island of Luzon, or rather to

Manila, the most important settlement in the entire group. This was the

pleasantest trip throughout the whole voyage. The distance, some 1800

nautical miles, was achieved in 17 days, with delightful weather, and

balmy south-west monsoons.[71] By the 14th June we were in sight of the

coast of Luzon, and on the following day we ran on before the freshening

monsoon into the broad, beautiful gulf of Manila. As we passed between the

rock La Monja (the Nun) and "El Corregidor," or Governor's Island, which

lie right in the channel, we met the _Cleopatra_, a large English

screw-steamer, which had a freight of 1150 Chinese, who were to be

imported into the Havanna as so-called "free" labourers. These poor

wretches came from Amoy, and, as we afterwards learned, had been put on

board so scantily provided, and so little cared for by the authorities,

that thus early, during the voyage from Amoy to Manila, only 700 miles,

eleven of these "passengers" had died, and the captain found himself

compelled to bear up for the nearest harbour in consequence of a sort of

malignant fever having broken out on board, so virulent that there were

deaths occurring almost every day. We shall treat more particularly of

this hideous trade in men, which is chiefly carried on by the Portuguese,

when describing our visit to Macao.

The Bay of Manila is a beautiful land-locked basin, of such splendid

proportions that when we had passed Governor's Island the city of Manila

was still below the horizon. We anchored on the afternoon of 18th June in

the harbour of Cavite (seven nautical miles south of Manila), because

during the S.W. monsoon this harbour is more sheltered, and therefore

safer for ships, than the shallow open roadstead of the capital. Cavite,

which boasts a fort, an arsenal, a dockyard, and a cigar manufactory, lies

on a low, narrow tongue of land projecting into the bay. Whoever may have

first set foot at Cavite, on the soil of the Island of Luzon, so renowned

for its natural magnificence of scenery, must involuntarily feel that his

anticipations have been sorely disappointed; he will with all possible

diligence make the best of his way from the glaring white sands and black

walls of the fortress here to Manila, the next object of our hopes. A

small screw plies daily between Cavite and the last-named city, and this

vessel also conveyed the Expeditionists from Cavite to the capital of the

Philippine Archipelago.

FOOTNOTES:

[34] Several copies of these various publications of the different

scientific societies of Java were presented to the Expedition by the

members of these learned bodies.

[35] Still the chief article of cultivation is rice, which constitutes

almost the sole bread-stuff of the Javanese. Crauford in his admirably

digested dictionary of the Indian Archipelago calculates that the annual

rice crop is about 500,000,000 lbs., and that each individual consumes

annually one quarter, or 480 lbs.!

[36] For some extremely beautiful and costly weapons used by the Malay

races we are especially indebted to Mr. J. Netscher, one of the directors

of the Society of Arts and Sciences, a profound scholar in the various

idioms spoken in Java, and who on the same occasion enriched our

collections with some of his own valuable numismatic specimens and

philological researches, and to this day neglects no opportunity of

advancing the special objects of our Expedition.

[37] Only two of the various races of Java have remained constant to the

belief of their fathers, and still honour, some of them Buddha, some

Brahma. Among these are the Badawis, who constitute all that remain of a

once mighty race at the east end of the island, among the hills of Kendang

in the Residency of Bandang, on the Tenggers, also at the east of the

island in the Residency of Passeruwan, the former numbering 1500, the

latter about 4000 souls.

[38] Garsick, the Grisse of modern days, was the first spot where these

jealous sectaries settled about the year 1374, and the two Arabic sheikhs

Dulla and Moellana are usually cited by later historians as the

introducers of the Mahometan worship into Java.

[39] There are at present two kings reigning on the Island of Lombok: Ratu

Agong Agong Suede Carang-assem, and Ratu Agong Agong Made Carang-assem.

These had submitted under special treaties to the Dutch Government, whose

vassals they now are.

[40] Yellow is the royal colour of the Ruler of Lombok. According to the

prevalent custom, no one but the king and members of his family is

permitted to use that colour in their dress or ornaments.

[41] This peculiarity of Eastern manners is universally prevalent wherever

Oriental nations have come in contact with Europeans. It is of course as

entirely unlike the genuine hospitality of the rude Bedouin or Tartar as

it is possible to imagine, and seems to belong to an early and very

imperfect notion of true refinement. Traces of it will be found in all

countries, even in Europe, and in its original form of making a present in

the expectation of receiving something more valuable in return, which lies

at the bottom of all this pseudo-generosity. The astuteness of the Scotch

Highlanders, themselves a race remarkably free from such meannesses, has

hitched the system into a pithy proverb, the sense of which is to "send a

hen's egg in order to get a goose's in exchange."

[42] 73.75 paals (posts) are equal to one degree of the equator, whence

one paal = within a small fraction of 4943 feet 6 inches. This method of

indicating land-measure originated in the circumstance that on every road

intersecting Java from west to east, the respective distances from the

three chief places, Batavia, Samarang, and Surabaya, are marked up upon

wooden "paale" or posts.

[43] As yet there are no railroads on the island. But a company has been

formed with the intention of uniting the more important and productive

districts of the island, an enterprise which will extend to about 1000

miles (English), and will cost about L8,500,000.

[44] It is well known that Holland in former days recruited her black

regiments of the Netherland Indies by men from the Gold Coast, and in fact

had set on foot a sort of traffic in men with the king of Ashantee.

[45] Dr. Junghuhn, in his admirable work upon Java, describes the rainy

season--which usually has fairly set in by the month of January, when the

westerly and north-westerly winds are driving the rain-clouds before

them--in the following spirited language:--"The floods stream from the

clouds often for four-and-twenty hours at a stretch without the slightest

interruption, and with such violence that the noise of the plash of the

falling element drowns the voices of the inhabitants, compelled as they

are to keep to their houses. Every brook and river overflows its banks,

covering with a tide of muddy brown water the alluvial soil wrested from

the bed of ocean, while the frogs croak incessantly day and night, and the

lizards and snakes emerge from their holes, and creep into every corner of

the dwellings of every man; all through the hours of darkness is heard the

loud thousand-voiced hum of insects, of myriads of mosquitoes, till it is

hardly possible to find a dry place throughout the house. The hot, sultry

air is saturated with moisture, so that everything becomes damp, in

consequence of the fine particles of the rain-vapour penetrating into the

inmost corners of the house."

[46] Pronounced _Chipannas_ (hot stream), from _Tji_, water, and _Pannas_,

hot. _Tji_ is always pronounced like _chi_, and _oe_ like _oo_.

[47] One can form some idea of the enormous fecundity of this insect, if

we mention that it takes 200,000 in a dried state to make one pound of the

cochineal of commerce.

[48] Two Vanilla plants, imported in 1841 from the Botanical Garden of

Leyden, remained barren for nine years, till recourse was at last had to

the system of artificial fructification, upon which these plants increased

so rapidly that the plants at present under cultivation at Pondok-Gedeh

amount to 700,000!

[49] Now named _Cankrienia Chrysantha_. The plant most characteristic of

this region was the _gnaphalium arboreum_.

[50] These four species were _Cinchona Calisaya_, _C. Condanimea_, _C.

Lanceolata_, and _C. Ovata_.

[51] According to our latest advices from Java, which extend to November,

1860, there are at present in the Preanger Regency upwards of 100,000

China plants in the very best order, so that this valuable commodity not

only may be regarded as fully naturalized in that island, but the Dutch

Government even complied with the request of the British Government for a

certain number of seedlings for introduction into India.

[52] Pronounce _Tschipodas_ and _Tschangschoor_ (Sweet Water)

respectively.

[53] Called in the Sunda dialect Gunung Masigit, or Hill of the Mosque, in

consequence of the chalk, of which it is composed, being broken into

pinnacles of remarkable uniformity, and strongly resembling the appearance

presented by the minarets of a mosque.

[54] As these edible swallows'-nests form a very important article of

commerce among the Colonial products, and their collection provides the

means of subsistence to a considerable section of the population of Java,

we shall follow here the description given by Dr. Junghuhn, in his truly

classic Monograph upon Java, in which (Book I. p. 468) he speaks as

follows respecting the marvellous abodes selected by this species of

swallow, and the perils dared by the native in obtaining their nests. "In

Karangbolong, a portion of the entrance to the holes where the swallows

breed is on a level with the surface of the water, and at times covered by

the sea. In one of these cavities, the Gua Gede, the edge of the

coast-wall rises 80 Paris feet above low water, in a concave form, so that

it actually overhangs; however, at an elevation of about 25 feet there

occurs a projection, which the Rotang-ladder reaches by being suspended

perpendicularly. The ladder is made by two side ropes of reed, which every

inch-and-a-half, or two inches, are bound to each other by cross-bars of

wood. The roof of the entrance to the cave is only 10 feet above the sea,

which even at ebb-tide washes the flow throughout its extent, while at

flood-tide the mouth of the cave is entirely closed by the sweep of the

rollers. Only during ebb-tide therefore, and with perfectly smooth water,

is it possible for any one to penetrate into the interior. Even then this

would be impossible, were not the rocky vault, or roof of the cavern,

pierced through, eaten away, and corroded into innumerable holes. By the

projecting angles of these holes it is that the strongest and most daring

gatherer who first makes his way in, has to hold on, while he attaches to

them ropes made of Rotang, which thus hang from the roof to a length of

four or five feet. At their lower extremities other Rotang ropes are

securely fastened crosswise, thus running, rather more horizontally,

parallel with the roof, so that they form a hanging bridge as it were

along the whole length of the roof. The roof is about 100 feet wide, and

from the entrance at the south to the deepest recess in the north end, the

cave is about 150 feet in length. Although only 10 feet high at the

entrance, the roof becomes gradually more and more lofty as the cavern

retreats, till at the farthest extremity it is about 20 to 25 feet above

the sea-level. Before any one of the nest-hunters proceeds to erect his

ladder, and again before proceeding to climb up upon it in such fearful

proximity to the thundering swell, a solemn prayer is proffered to the

goddess or queen of the sea-coast, whose blessing is invoked. At this

place she bears the name of _Njai-Ratu-Segor-Kidul_, or sometimes

_Ratu-Loro-Djunggrang_, and has dedicated to her in the village of

Karangbolong a temple, which is kept scrupulously clean. Occasionally the

gatherers make also a solemn sacrifice at the tomb of _Serot_, who,

according to a Javanese legend, is revered as the first discoverer of the

bird-nest caves." (The meaning of the above Javanese words is as follows:

_Njai_, the title of honour of a female, corresponding to our

"Madame:"--_Ratu_, Queen:--_Segoro_, ocean:--_Kidul_, south:--_Lero_,

maiden:--_Djunggrang_ is a surname.) Compare "Java, its physical Features,

Vegetation, and internal Structure," by Franz Junghuhn. Leipsig, Arnold,

1842.

[55] The picul varies in weight between 125 and 133-1/3 pounds.

[56] Toestand der aangeweekete Kinabomen op het eiland Java in het laatst

der Maand Julij, en het begni van Augustus, 1857. Kort beschreven door F.

Junghuhn, 116 pp.

[57] At all events, among the planters up the country the opinion prevails

that the coffee beans prepared by the native population on what is called

the parching method are of far finer and more durable quality than those

prepared by the former process.

[58] Professor Vriese, besides having all expenses paid, drew a salary of

L1000 per annum, besides 10 guilders (16_s._ 8_d._) a day for every day

passed by him in the interior of the island while engaged in its

explorations.

[59] The commercial and statistical particulars of Java, for which we are

mainly indebted to the kindness of Mr. Fraser, the Austrian Consul in

Batavia, will be specially considered in a different part of the work.

[60] The Javanese agriculturist, especially the coffee planter, is sadly

tormented by three kinds of grass, which Dr. Junghuhn has named the

Javanese Trinity, and which are invariably found with the coffee

plant--_Erichthitas Valerianifolia_ (which was introduced from Mocha with

the coffee-shrub, and was never before known in Java), _Agerahun

Conisoides_, and _Bideus Sundaica_. The civet-cat, too (called _Luah_ in

Javanese, Jjaruh in the Sunda language), does great damage to the coffee

plantations, just as the crop is being collected. It eats only the fleshy

part of the brown berry, the beans, at least according to what the

Javanese say, actually gaining a flavour by the process to which they are

subjected in the maw of the animal!

[61] In 1859 the most important of the colonial products, grown for

account of the Government, presented the following quantities:--

Coffee piculs 727,000 (of 125 lbs. each)

Sugar " 901,000.

Indigo 558,800 lbs.

Cassia 256,000 "

Cochineal (a failure in the crops owing to incessant rains) 6,700 "

Tea 2,057,400 "

Pepper 45,000 "

The duties on imports and exports for that year in the islands of Java and

Madura alone amounted to 7,440,579 guilders, or L620,048.

N.B. The picul of 125 lbs. = 136 lbs. 10 ounces avoirdupois.

[62] Since this was written a number of the Dutch officials and _savans_

at Java, who showed so many civilities to the Austrian travellers, were

decorated by our Government with Austrian orders, among whom was also the

Raden Adipata Wira Nata Kusuma, the first native Javanese Regent ever

decorated by a foreign power. The prince was extremely delighted when he

was informed of it, and said he longed for the hour when the imperial

decoration was to arrive that he might put it on and wear it. Singularly

enough the presents and letters of acknowledgment sent to the Dutch

Government in the Hague for remittance, were not forwarded direct by the

mail steamer, but as customary by sailing vessels, so that they only

arrived six months after they were presented!

[63] A genuine Javanese musical instrument, consisting of a number of

bells all differently tuned, which are struck with two small

bamboo-sticks.

[64] Die Republic Costa Rica, in Central-America, mit besonderer

Beruecksichtigung der Naturverhaeltnisse, und der frage der deutschen

Answanderung und Colonisation. Reisestudien und Reiseskizzen aus den

Jahren 1853 und 1854. Von Dr. M. Wagner and Dr. Karl Scherzer. Leipzig,

Arnold'sche Buchhandlung. 1856. S. 196-197.

[65] Colonel Von Schierbrand, to whom natural science is already under

deep obligations for acquiring a variety of valuable objects, is

constantly and indefatigably endeavouring, both as a friend of knowledge

and a zealous sportsman, to procure, sometimes by personal exertion,

sometimes by employing natives engaged at his own expense, a series of

rare geological specimens. He appears to be, like so many other of our

excellent friends in Java, a living contradiction to the proverb, "Out of

sight, out of mind," as he has since the return of the Expedition already

sent over as presents to the museums of our native country, valuable

selections of curious objects of natural history from the Indian

Archipelago.

[66] The Loar-Badang (Public Market) is an immense building, a sort of

brothel on a large scale, kept by a Frenchman, who pays a handsome annual

sum to Government for the privilege of his infamous traffic. Here, among

others, are some 40 or 50 wretched outcasts, whom he sends off in boats

every evening to the merchantmen in the port, for the accommodation of

their crews!!!

[67] According to official return, the number of criminals, in the year

1857, convicted in the islands of Java and Madura, was 3864, of whom 198

were females and 955 were sentenced to the chain-gang. In the year 1857

alone, 2525 coloured criminals were sentenced to hard labour, with or

without chains. The number of convictions in the Dutch East Indies,

exclusive of Java and Madura, amounted in the same year to 4430.

[68] Thus the "Prima donna" receives for tragic opera 1500 guilders

(L125), and for comic opera 1800 guilders (L150) per month during the

season. The "troupe" is usually engaged for a year and a half or two years

together.

[69] Of these we cannot refrain from mentioning Dr. Van den Broek, who

shortly before our arrival had returned from Japan, where he had resided

seven years as physician and Government agent. Dr. Van den Broek, who is

at present engaged in the editing a dictionary of the Dutch and Japanese

languages, presented us with a botanical work in Japanese with numerous

woodcuts, and at the same time was so exceedingly kind as to present us

with a small vocabulary of the Court and the popular dialects used in

Japan.

[70] Among scientific circles in Batavia the recent departure of the

renowned ichthyologist, Dr. Bleeker, who intends to settle in Holland or

Germany, will be the more appreciated, that this resolve will be regarded

by his numerous European friends as a satisfactory assurance that the

valuable materials relating to natural history which he has collected will

ere long make their appearance in a suitable form.

[71] Voyagers between Batavia and Manila must not, however, always expect

to make so rapid a voyage. In Manila we fell in with a ship captain, who

had left Batavia in April, and, owing to the prevalence of calms and

contrary winds, had been 59 days on the passage!

[Illustration: View from the Battlements at Manila.]

XIII.

Manila.

Stay from 15th to 25th June, 1858.

Historical notes relating to the Philippines.--From Cavite to

Manila.--The river Pasig.--First impressions of the city.--Its

inhabitants.--Tagales and Negritoes.--Preponderating influence

of Monks.--Visit to the four chief monasteries.--Conversation

with an Augustine Monk.--Grammars and Dictionaries of the idioms

chiefly in use in Manila.--Reception by the Governor-general of

the Philippines.--Monument in honour of Magelhaens.--The

"Calzada."--Cock-fighting.--"Fiestas Reales."--Causes of the

languid trade with Europe hitherto.--Visit to the

Cigar-manufactories.--Tobacco cultivation in Luzon and at the

Havanna.--Abaca, or Manila hemp.--Excursion to the "Laguna de

Bay."--A row on the river Pasig.--The village of Patero.--

Wild-duck breeding.--Sail on the Lagoon.--Plans for

canalization.--Arrival at Los Banos.--Canoe-trip on the

"enchanted sea."--Alligators.--Kalong Bats.--Gobernador and

Gobernadorcillo.--The Poll-tax.--A hunt in the swamps of

Calamba.--Padre Lorenzo.--Return to Manila.--The "Pebete."--The

military Library.--The civil and military Hospital.--

Ecclesiastical processions.--Ave Maria.--Tagalian merriness.--

Condiman.--Lunatic Asylum.--Gigantic serpent thirty-two years

old.--Departure.--Chinese pilots.--First glimpse of the coasts

of the Celestial Empire.--The Lemmas Channel.--Arrival in

Hong-kong Harbour.

Luzon, or Manila, the largest and most important island, politically

speaking, of the Philippine Archipelago, is the sole possession of the

Spanish Crown which was visited by the _Novara_ during her numerous

traverses and diagonal tracks on her voyage round the world. As we had

hitherto come into contact for the most part with the Anglo-Saxon race and

its colonies, it was naturally doubly interesting to have an opportunity

of becoming likewise acquainted with the results of civilization and

colonization as exemplified by what are called the Romaic or Latin

branches of the great Caucasian family, and by personal examination to

satisfy ourselves in what fashion the Castilians have succeeded in

identifying their own advantages with those of the natives of these

islands. True it is, that the history of the earlier Spanish dependencies

is by no means calculated to heighten our regard for the wisdom and

mildness of the colonial policy of Spain, or to give a particularly

favourable impression of the political and social condition of the

Philippine Islands. A state, whose power at the commencement of the

present century was still beaming in all its lustre, who has lost the

fairest and most fertile lands on the face of the earth, which it had

possessed for above three hundred years, without the slightest attempt to

defend them, whose Government, through its inflexible adherence to

obsolete forms and ordinances, after the dizzy pre-eminence of ruling the

world has dwindled into a power of the third class,--leaves nothing to

hope that any part of its organization should have remained intact, that

the canker in its political and social proclivities, which so suddenly and

so disastrously brought about the downfal of one of the mightiest and

most extended empires in the world, should not likewise have made its

appearance in the Philippines. However, it is precisely these

considerations which make the contrast between the colonies founded by the

Anglo-Saxon race in remote regions of the globe, and those of the Spanish,

Portuguese, Dutch, and so forth, so valuable and instructive, although a

rigid analysis of the causes which have conduced to the present condition

of the majority of the countries conquered and ruled by races of Latin

origin, must necessarily impress the unprejudiced inquirer in a sense

little flattering to these latter, namely, that the history of every

quarter of the globe would have assumed an entirely different aspect had

these countries been first discovered and colonized by the Anglo-Saxon

race, with its watchwords of freedom and religious toleration, instead of

the Spaniard or Portuguese, with tyranny and fanaticism inscribed on its

banners.

The Archipelago of the Philippines comprises those numerous islands and

islets between the parallels of 5 deg. and 21 deg. N., and which are scattered

between the North Pacific Ocean on the east and the Chinese Sea on the

west. The entire group, which, according to the Spanish account, consists

of not fewer than 408 islands, extends over 16 deg. of latitude by 9 deg. of

longitude, covering a superficial area of 91,000 square miles, or about

the dimensions of England, Ireland, and Wales, exclusive of Scotland. Only

two islands however of the whole cluster are of considerable dimensions,

viz. Luzon, or Manila, which is about the same size as Galicia, Moravia,

and Silesia taken together, and Mindanao, which, in superficial area, is

about equal to Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola.

As in size, so in fertility, natural advantages, and commerce, Luzon is

the most important island in the Archipelago, as it is likewise one of the

most delightful spots in the tropics. The climate is adapted to the

cultivation of all the plants and various forms of vegetation alike of the

torrid and the temperate zones. On the coast the thermometer never falls

below 71 deg.6 Fahr., nor rises above 95 deg. Fahr. In the highland valley of

Banjanao, 6000 feet above the level of the sea, albeit not above 36 miles

distant from Manila, the thermometer frequently descends as low as 44 deg.6

Fahr. The highest register of the thermometer is during the rainy

months,[72] from May to September; but we were assured over and over again

that in Manila the heat is very equably distributed over the entire year,

and never attains such a high degree as many summer days in Madrid. The

most valuable and most extensively used plants of the tropical and

sub-tropical zones, suck as sugar, coffee, cocoa, cotton, bananas, maize,

tobacco, and rice, flourish here. The forests abound in all the most

valuable descriptions of cabinet-wood, but the narrow-minded illiberality

that has always characterized the colonial policy of Spain, the

numberless restrictions to which her commerce is subjected, do not admit

of that magnificent development of which this insular cluster, so

abounding in natural wealth, would be susceptible under a more free-souled

rule. The Spaniards have conquered and have subjugated the islands,

fanatical monks have what they call Christianized the people, but, during

the three hundred years that the Castilian has held the supremacy here,

little if anything has been done for the prosperity and development of the

country, or the intellectual and moral advancement of the people.

The Philippine Islands were discovered by Magelhaens and Pigafetta on the

17th March, 1521, nearly twenty-nine years after the discovery of America

by Columbus, and two years after the conquest of Mexico by Fernando

Cortez. In consonance with the religious customs of that age, the group

was named by Magelhaens "The Archipelago of St. Lazarus," because the day

on which it was discovered corresponded with the fete-day of that saint in

the calendar. But the discovery did not imply the conquest of the

Archipelago. Four expeditions were dispatched at various intervals,

without their succeeding in subduing the natives. The solitary result

obtained thence was, that the commander of the fourth expedition, that of

1542, Don Ruy Lopez de Villalobos by name, changed the Scriptural name of

the Archipelago for that by which it is at present known, in honour of the

prince of Asturias (then 15 years old), afterwards Philip II.

Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara, Volume II (Commodore B. Von Wullerstorf-Urbair,) Undertaken by Order of the Imperial Government in the Years 1857, 1858, & 1859, Under the Immediate Auspices of His I. and R. Highness the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, Commander-In-Chief of the Austrian Navy. · 第 11 / 16 章

About 10 A.M. we reached Kandang Badak, or the spot where rhinoceroses