BATHS AND VOLCANOES.
Garvet seemed to boast of an enormous population for there were endless
rows, or rather groups of houses, crowded together, face to face, back
to back, and side by side, giving the idea of a casual conglomeration of
several villages. All these were scrupulously clean and neat, and fenced
round with little bamboo rails. Nearly every house had a tiled roof, and
all were of a superior class to the majority of those up country in the
Peninsula. The streets were little short of marvellously swept and
clean, and it was decided by X. during that walk that Garvet was the
cleanest Eastern town he had ever seen--the capital of Pura Pura of
course excepted. Much had been talked of about the hot baths at Tji
Panao, and so the traveller determined to make that his first excursion.
Hiring a conveyance drawn by three ponies abreast--reminding him of his
early youth when he would wonder at a smart turn-out in the Park at
home--three ponies abreast driven by a well known leader of society and
fashion, before the days of two-wheeled pony carts and bicycles, X.
told the driver to go to Tji Panao, and looked forward to spending a
delicious half hour lying in warm water like that of the springs in New
Zealand, which send the bather forth invigorated and refreshed. Another
disillusion was in store for him, however, in this country where nature
has done so much and man--for comfort--so little. The baths were located
in a shed on the side of a hill. This shed had three partitions. In each
partition was a shallow brick hole in which it was possible to sit. The
hot water was conveyed into these holes by means of pipes, one at the
head of each. The floor all round the bath was dirty, and the only
furniture was one cane chair. The depth of the water in the baths was
about three inches, and in this on slimy bricks the bather had to sit
miserably, with the lower portion of his body immersed in warm water
while the upper remained high and dry in the comparatively cool air
above. X. had made preparations for a prolonged stay in the water, and
came provided with literature to pass the time, but a very brief dip
under the circumstances proved enough, and he soon unhitched his
clothing from the back of the chair and prepared to depart. Close by
these baths was a building containing four rooms, apparently a
Government Rest House, very well furnished and comfortable, so it was
evident that people came there on purpose to make use of the baths. The
hot water springs possess great capabilities, and with a little trouble
and expenditure of money they should become both enjoyable and a source
of revenue.
There were one or two other excursions to be made from Garvet, but the
only one worthy of mention was that which was made to the volcano at
Tjiseroepan. One morning, together with Usoof and Abu, for X. was
growing tired of sight seeing all alone, having obtained permission from
the kind Assistant-Resident to use the Government Rest House, he drove
to Tjiseroepan. The road was excellent and the route, needless to say,
lay through a beautiful country. Here, as everywhere else, all
well-to-do natives were riding ponies. The distance was thirteen miles.
Tjiseroepan is a little village in the hills at the foot of the mountain
which it was proposed to ascend on the following day. The traveller was
received by the Assistant Wodena, a native official who had been riding
suspiciously behind and before the carriage during the last two miles.
After reading the credentials of the stranger and finding that he could
converse in Malay, the local magnate became quite cordial, and made X.
free of the Government Rest House. This was well furnished with beds and
tables, etc., but glass and crockery were not provided.
The Assistant Wodena conducted the visitor round the village, which was
a model of neatness. Each house stood in a garden, growing coffee,
vegetables, and strawberries. The head of the village and a few others
live in very good houses, and there seemed to be ponies without number.
The village perched on a slope and the cultivated hillside bore some
resemblance to a scene in the South of Italy. The usual signs of
prosperity and content reigned everywhere, and neither in this village,
nor elsewhere, where X. conversed with the natives could he find
anything to explain the commonly accepted view that the people of Java
are inimical to their rulers.
The Rest House proved comfortable, X. had brought his own provisions,
which his servants cooked, and for once he enjoyed a hot and palatable
meal. There was plenty of opportunity for conversation with the
Assistant Wodena, who was quite willing to discourse on the customs of
the country, and he gave a most interesting account of the elaborate
etiquette of Javanese Rajas, and of the extraordinary deference paid by
commoners to rank. He in his turn asked many questions concerning
Malacca and the Malay Straits, about which his interlocutor was able to
give him all the information sought for.
The next morning the sightseer and his followers ascended the mountain
on ponies to see the volcano. This was a kind of inferno with wicked
mouths which looked like ventilators from the bowels of the earth
spitting and hissing blinding steam.
The whole face of the mountain was yellow with sulphur, and the air was
sickening from its smell. Usoof and Abu were not a little terrified by
this awful experience, and grasped their Tuan by the arm entreating him
not to venture near what, they evidently thought, were the gates of
hell.
I feel that I have paid sufficient deference to my instructions in
recording the impressions the scenery made upon the traveller, and shall
therefore omit all mention of what he saw while descending the mountain.
He described it as wonderful, and those of my readers who have arrived
thus far will be prepared to admit the accuracy of the description.
The party reached Garvet in time to catch the two o'clock train to
Tassikmalaja, and thus make a start for Tjilatjap.