THE QUEST FOR A MOTHER.
To start for Tjilatjap was such an unusual departure that it merits a
chapter all to itself. No one had apparently left Garvet for Tjilatjap
for years, since it had been pronounced to be one of the most unhealthy
places in the island. The correct thing for every traveller to do is to
go to Tassikmalaya for the night and proceed from thence to Djoeja by
train, go by carriage to Beroboeddoer, where a halt for the night can be
made at a Government Rest House. The drive is twenty-five miles. The
next morning the traveller should drive ten miles further to Magelang,
while his luggage goes by train or bullock cart. From Magelang Amberawa
is reached by another drive of twenty miles, and from here the railway
can be taken to Semerang or back to Djoeja, and from there to Solo, a
three hours' journey.
X. was informed that everyone took this route, but he persisted in
starting for Tjilatjap, notwithstanding that the lady who presided over
the hotel assured him that it was the most fever stricken port in the
country. Had he known then as much as he subsequently learnt of the evil
reputation of the place it is probable that the traveller might have
changed his plans. As it was, he only replied that he was inured to
fever and did not mind. At that time he had no particular reason for
going to one place more than another, and therefore the one which drove
him in this direction was good enough to serve his purpose. Usoof
desired to commence the search for his mother. He had no recollection of
the village where he was born, but believed it to be somewhere near the
coast which, considering the country was an island, was somewhat a vague
indication. After assisting his Tuan to study a map he exclaimed that
the name Tjilatjap sounded familiar to him, and sure enough it was a
large town on the coast. Now, he argued, it could not be familiar unless
he had heard it before, and that could only have been when he was in
Java, and as he was then little more than a baby, only the names of
places in the neighbourhood of his birth place could have been familiar
to him. It mattered little to X. where he went, the further away from
the beaten track, the more opportunity for studying the natives and
learning something of their lives. So he readily agreed to go to
Tjilatjap. It was only after all plans had been settled that its evil
reputation for fever was heard of.
The first stage of the journey was to Tassimalaja, and, leaving Garvet
at two, they arrived there in time for dinner. So far as could be judged
from a very brief stay during the dark hours and early morning, this
seemed a pretty little country town, but the train left early and there
was little time to look about. The first important stop was at Maos,
where a change had to be made. Among the passengers was an Englishman
whom X. had met some ten years before in New York. He was going the
orthodox round to Ojoedja and Semarang. The two Englishmen, both
experienced travellers, exchanged views as to their respective
impressions of Java, and both agreed that, wherever they went, the
courtesy and assistance received equalled if they did not exceed any
they had met with in other portions of the globe they had trotted over.
At Maos their ways separated, though fate brought them together again on
board the steamer to Singapore.
Another companion of the journey was a versatile young Dutchman who
spoke many languages and proved to be very good company. This gentleman
apparently had no great admiration for his fellow-countrymen, as he saw
them in Java. He abused with equal impartiality the food and the manner
of life, and declared that the Dutch in Java were devoid both of
digestion and energy. They were in fact half dead from bad food and too
much sleep. This communicative companion also gave his views on the
civil service, which had gradually grown from the stage, when anyone
could be pitchforked into it, to its present condition, when both brains
and interest are required to achieve the entry to its rank. Let a man
once get in (the views are those of the communicative Dutchman), his
fortune was made, if he only kept quiet and was satisfied to slip along
in the common groove. He must implicitly follow prescribed rules and
obey his immediate superior blindly, sinking all individual conscience
and identity. Should he have views for his own self-advancement or to
assist the people, should he economize Government money and reduce the
number of road-coolies or police, who actually officiate in the
household as cooks, gardeners, or grooms, should he try to set a good
example and relinquish perquisites, "that man" exclaimed the speaker "is
lost, and had better return to Holland forthwith." Such were the views
of his travelling companion, but what opportunity he had had for forming
them, and whether they were justified by actual facts, X. did not know,
or greatly care, so long as he found his company amusing, which he did
until their arrival at Tjilatjap. Here his opinion was somewhat
modified, when his voluble companion, profiting by superior experience,
annexed the only decent room in the hotel and exulted over the ruse
which secured it for him.
When X. first announced in the train that he was bound for Tjilatjap
there was a chorus of exclamations, and his companions evidently thought
him eccentric. Had he also explained his reason for going, there would
have been little doubt on the subject. It was then he learnt that
Tjilatjap had formerly been a garrison town, but it had been found
necessary to abandon it on account of the high rate of mortality among
the troops. It was not till after the change at Maos that the young
Dutchman acknowledged that Tjilatjap was also his destination, being
probably unwilling to appear eccentric in the eyes of his
fellow-countrymen who remained in the Djoeja carriage.