"Those concerned the land, but not the people."
"Well?"
"The Javanese will never change their skin. Those of the present
day are simply a few grades lazier than their progenitors. Since
the last great war Java has been declared a neutral territory; all
nationalities have equal rights to trade on it, and what do you think
has been the result? That of the few hundred-weights of coffee and
sugar which the island continues to produce, scarcely anything finds
its way to our own market; most of it goes to Marseilles and other
parts of the Mediterranean."
At this point Bacon interrupted our conservative friend, and spoke as
follows: "I am no trader, sir; but unless I am improperly informed,
the Javanese people feel much happier now than when they were under
the rule of the East Indian Company or the Culture System. It appears
to me that possessions which are not colonies proper impose peculiar
obligations on the temporary possessor, and that the latter is hardly
justified in dealing with the inhabitants as the leech does with
the patient. Wherever a superior race holds sway over an inferior
one, it is the duty of the former to raise its inferiors to any such
state of culture as they may prove themselves susceptible of. From the
nature of things, such rule is always temporary, as history has often
taught us. The time must come when the bonds will be rent asunder;
but they will hold so much longer together, and be so much more
easily dissolved, as the government has less borne the character of
oppression. A moral ascendancy is on the whole the most powerful,
and that maintains itself best by fair and just treatment of the
weaker by the stronger. I for one feel perfectly convinced that the
only reason why your country has even kept the island as long as it
has, was exclusively owing to the few necessary reforms which your
government consented to make in the nineteenth century. But for those
concessions, Java would have been lost to you long before; and with
regard to the shifting of the market, don't you think yourself, sir,
that that was chiefly brought about by the Suez Canal?"
"Perhaps so," replied the Hollander, not very good-naturedly;
"I won't argue the point with you; you are an Englishman, and you
fellows think that you know everything better than we do; this,
however, I maintain, that if this kind of thing is to continue,
we shall go down as fast as we can."
I silently rejoiced to think that my telescopical observations had
more than convinced me of this, that my countrymen had by no means
so visibly yet come down, and I was inclined to conclude from this
consoling fact that they had known in time how to apply the old
Dutch proverb: "When the tide turns, turn your beacons." However, I
did not venture to set my thoughts to words, for I should certainly
have given offence to the "trunculant figure," whose solitary line
of conduct apparently went along his own individual interests, and
whose knowledge of political economy and of the rights of man was
evidently at a very low ebb.
Railway Nets.
During this somewhat prolonged conversation we had slightly deviated
from our former course. We now moved along in south-easterly direction,
and the native towns gradually disappeared from my sight. Looking
towards the east, I observed a small black speck which obviously
moved with great rapidity along the surface of the earth, and seemed
to advance nearer and nearer to us. It became larger and larger as
it approached our conveyance, under which it finally glided away. I
had just had sufficient time to recognise an immense train of huge
waggons in the fleeting meteor below us. "From where," asked I,
"did this train start?" Bacon consulted his railway guide. "That's the
morning train," replied he, "which left Pekin the day before yesterday,
and runs along the great central-east-west-line."
"From Pekin? Right across or over the high mountains of Central Asia
and Ural?"
"Oh, my friend, such obstacles have ceased to exist in the twenty-first
century. Surely you yourself remember the piercing of Mount Cenis? You
will soon observe that what was done in your time between France and
Italy has since been accomplished between Italy and Switzerland."
There could be no doubt in the matter; for the white-coated tops of
the Alps already appeared at the horizon. The mountains themselves had
not been affected by the hand of time or civilization, but the route
went no longer across the Splügen, the Simplon, or the Saint Bernard,
but underneath the mountain range, so that the same trains which we
saw enter the tunnels on the Swiss side, made their appearance very
shortly afterwards on the Italian side, and proceeded in their course
through the plains of the valley of the Po.
I was in hopes that we should touch Rome on our way, for I was anxious
to know what had become of that most venerable and ancient of cities;
but I was sadly disappointed in my expectations.
Geographical Changes in Europe.
We floated over Venice, where the Italian standard waved from the top
of St. Mark's, although I could recognise a few Austrian vessels by
their immense double eagle. Now ascending, then again descending, it
was often impossible for us to discover where we found ourselves, until
I noticed Constantinople; but nowhere could I descry a single crescent,
nor any other emblem that might have led me to conclude what Government
had got possession of the ancient capital of the Eastern empire.
Crossing the Black Sea, and leaving the Caucasus behind us, we got a
full view of the valley of the Euphrates; but I was again disappointed,
in as far as I did not get anything to see in the shape of Eastern
scenery. All the districts over which we travelled had quite a
European cut about them. Nothing was there to show us that we were
on another continent.
Among the buildings which I could clearly distinguish, one struck me
as being in quite peculiar style. The numerous and large domes would
have led me to suspect that it was a church or a mosque, but for the
side wings and adjacent buildings, which looked like ordinary European
houses, except that they were surrounded by colonnades. This edifice,
or shall I say this cluster of buildings, was situated on a rocky hill,
whence the view was a most extensive one.
Astronomical Observatories.
I asked Bacon did he know what this edifice was intended for? He
looked through the telescope, and replied, "Why, that is the famous
observatory of Orumiah. I know it by an illustration of the building
which I have in my library. I have not been there myself, but it must
be well worth seeing."
"But how did they come to erect a building of such gigantic dimensions
so far beyond the circle of civilization?"
"Simply for the sake of saving time," was the answer; "now-a-days only
those spots are selected for astronomical observations where they can
be made most conveniently and in the shortest possible time. In Europe
the nights are scarcely ever sufficiently clear to use our now so
powerful glasses to advantage. There, on the contrary, during several
months of the year the sky is so bright and transparent that one can
even with the naked eye observe the moons of Jupiter and the phases
of Venus. This had been known many years ago to the American Stoddard,
who even called Herschel's attention to the fact, but that was not the
time for taking advantage of such excellent opportunities. Not until
the beginning of this century was the foundation-stone to be laid
of the central observatory, as it is called; the glorious building
was erected at the joint expense of all civilised nationalities,
the latter including the Persians themselves, who have long ceased
to be behind us Europeans. I need scarcely assure you that this
institution is amply provided with the most excellent instruments,
and that it has a staff of scientific men second to none for making
the necessary observations."
Calculatoria.
"Then at last," said I, "the science of astronomy has wandered back to
the cradle of its infancy, the soil of Chaldea. But what has become
of the once so celebrated observatories of Leiden, Greenwich, the
Pulkowa, etc., etc.?"
They have been changed into calculatoria, as in fact they had been
already for some time past. Among them are distributed the observations
made at the central observatory, and these they have to work out. At
the same time these calculatoria continue to be of some use to the
young astronomer; having there to encounter no end of difficulties,
he may learn the value of the Latin adage, Per ardua ad astera,
and so grow ultimately into a hard-working and accurate observer.
With regard to the practical results already obtained at the Orumiah
observatory--in consequence of our knowledge of the celestial bodies
having so considerably increased--I merely wish to call your attention
for a moment to yonder map and the words printed underneath. I
will rather not offend you by giving you any warning or advice in
the matter.
Tin Mines in the Moon.
I followed the direction of his finger, and saw an immense "poster,"
on which I recognised at a glance the well-known lunar district of
Tycho; of course I was acquainted with its ring mountains and the
bright silver beams radiating as from a common centre; these were
the words on the placard: