The seal of union of this Brotherhood of the Heavens and the Earth is engraved with numerous hieroglyphics, and many-cornered in its inner circumference, emblematic of the supreme states of felicity, according to Chinese notions, viz. wisdom, justice, posterity, honour, and riches. These five states of felicity correspond to their five elements, earth, wood, water, metal, fire, whose symbols figure at the corner of the seal. Immediately below are seen certain other engraved emblems, indicating mighty undaunted leaders, ancient heroes of China, who are standing closely together with unshaken front. Then follow a number of proverbs, partly of symbolic significance, and in rhythmical sayings, such as:—
One tie unites the old and the young brethren; in order of battle old and young are intermingled. Each man stands ready to obey the smallest signal of his immediate commander. As the swollen mountain torrent spreads itself over the level ground, innumerable bands of these pour forth on all sides:
The by-laws of this secret society are so strict that there is hardly an example on record of a member incurring a denunciation, or being guilty of treason. In consequence of the cloud of mystery which envelopes these societies, they are the more dangerous, because unassailable by the government. And accordingly, all precautions hitherto taken for suppressing these secret societies of the Chinese population have proved unavailing. Secret societies however are anything but forbidden under Dutch rule in Java,—on the contrary, it is rather bon ton to belong to some one of the lodges of freemasonry existent out there.
Before setting out on our excursion into the interior of Java, we had an opportunity of being present at the festivities which it is customary to get up on the occasion of the reception of an embassy from one of the native princes. On the present occasion it was the ministers of the Kings of the Island of Lombok,[39] eastward of Java, who had to deliver on behalf of their illustrious masters letters for H. E. the Governor-general of the Dutch East Indies. During the whole of their stay they were maintained at the expense of government in the house of a specially appointed master of the ceremonies, a native of the Island of Borneo, and nephew of the Sultan of Pontianab, whose official position imposes upon him the duty of showing all that is worth seeing in the city to these occasional illustrious Malay guests. Both ministers were accompanied everywhere by a Malay dolmetsch, although they spoke Javanese with the utmost fluency, in addition to their mother tongue.
On the day of the reception they made their appearance in ceremonial dress, and in gala "turn-outs," at the government palace, where they were presented to the Governor-general by the Resident of Batavia, the highest authority in the city. The master of the ceremonies took charge of the letters of the Kings of Lombok, as also of two immense spears, at least twelve feet long, each richly gilt and gaily bedecked with yellow tissue,[40] which were presented by the ambassadors as presents from the Kings of Lombok to the Governor-general. It is however strictly forbidden to the Dutch employés to accept any presents of the most trifling nature, and even in cases such as the present, where the refusal of the gifts would be an insult to the donor, all such must be sold for the benefit of the treasury, or at least a corresponding amount must be returned by the receiver out of the state treasury. Accordingly, it is the custom to recompense all presents made by the various regents with others of far greater value.[41]
At the entrance to the palace a guard of honour of European soldiers was drawn up in full uniform, between whose ranks the ambassadors were ushered into the hall of reception. One of the attendants now held a large rich-looking, highly-gilt parasol above the letter of the Kings of Lombok, which was borne along by the master of the ceremonies on a silver waiter. A similar mark of distinction was conferred on the two ambassadors and the resident. The Governor-general in full official uniform, and surrounded by a number of government officials, received the embassy on a platform, where he sat on a beautifully covered gilt chair, canopied with costly tapestry. The elder of the two ambassadors, having been introduced by the resident, thereupon proceeded to say that he was charged to present the homage of his master to the Dutch Government, and to remit a letter. On a formal sign by the Governor-general, the government interpreter, Mr. Nitscher, took the letter off the silver waiter, at which moment a salute of nine cannon-shot was fired in the garden behind the palace, to announce to the people outdoors the moment at which the king's letter had been received. The letter, enveloped in yellow silk, and written in Malay with Arabic characters, was thereupon opened by the government interpreter, and read with a loud voice, after which it was translated into Dutch. In a similar manner the reply of the Governor-general was translated for the two ambassadors into the Malay language.
At last, after these stiff and wearisome formalities had been gone through, the ambassadors were invited to occupy chairs that had been specially prepared for them next the Governor-general, when a short exchange took place of civilities and commonplace phrases, until the Governor-general gave the signal for breaking up, by rising from his seat. The ambassadors were thereupon ushered forth in the same ceremonious manner in which they had entered.
The occasion of the present embassy was a dispute with the Sultan of Sumbawa, in which the Kings of Lombok invoked the mediation of the Dutch Government. The Sultan of Sumbawa had in fact refused to restore two subjects of the Kings of Lombok who had fled to Sumbawa. But for the preponderating influence of the Dutch Government the two disputants would long before have resorted to war.
On the 13th May we set forth in two large and very comfortable coaches for Buitenzorg (signifying in Dutch "on the farther side of sorrow"), the usual residence of the Governor-general, who only comes to Batavia on certain days in the month to give audiences. He had not alone invited the members of the Expedition to visit the Preanger Regencies as guests of the government, and caused arrangements to be made for their ascending with as little trouble as possible the volcanic peak of Gunung Pangerango (10,194 feet), but likewise detached one of his adjutants, M. de Kock, and Dr. Bleeker, both well acquainted with the natural history of the country, to accompany us upon this excursion. Messengers were sent in advance, to announce our approach at each station, so as to secure us a comfortable and courteous reception wherever we wished to pass a few hours, or to take a night's rest.
Buitenzorg is distant from the capital 39 paals or Javanese miles,[42] which distance, thanks to the excellence of the roads and the horses in Java, is traversed in about three hours, two "loopers," or runners, as is the custom here, as elsewhere in the East, accompanying each coach, who are incessantly on and off the waggon, yelling and cracking their long whips at the horses to keep them to their speed. About every five paals, or 4 3⁄4 miles (English), the cattle and the runners are changed, so that an unvarying speed is attained. All along the roads stretches the telegraphic wire, which unites Batavia in one direction with Angier (75 miles) and Surabaya (543 miles).[43] The wood of which each post is constructed is the Kapok tree, a species of Gossypium, or cotton tree, and here for the first time we saw the slender, tightly-strained wires suspended on the stem of a luxuriant green tree. Thus, if the experiment succeeds, the elsewhere naked, dead telegraph-poles will here be made at once useful and productive, as each post that supports the wire will produce a small quantity of cotton.
Buitenzorg possesses one of the finest and most extensive botanical gardens in the world. It was laid out as far back as 1817, during the vice-royalty of Baron van Capellen. The distribution of the various orders is contrived equally to assist and promote the instruction of the general observer, and to accustom the naturalist to the phenomena of Eastern vegetation. Each order of plants has its own area. The various species of palms are the most extensively represented, and there is scarcely one of the genus, whether ornamental or useful, found in the Netherland Indies or Australia, of which a representative is not to be found here. The superintendence of this garden has been intrusted to that indefatigable hortulanus, Mr. J. C. Teijsmann, who in his department assisted to the utmost the objects of the Novara Expedition. He not only presented us with duplicates of all the more valuable plants in his very extensive collection, but also with valuable seeds. By such kind co-operation we found ourselves provided with some twenty various species of fibrous plants, amongst others the well-known Ramé-shrub (Boehmeria utilis), and that useful species of wild plantain, the Musa textilis (from the leaves of which is manufactured Manila hemp), as also twenty-four different species of rice. Of these latter two were of special interest, one needing no watering, but flourishing best in mountainous, dry soil, the other being chiefly used by the natives for the preparation of a dye.
Mr. Teijsmann has the great merit of having been the first to introduce into Java the cultivation of the valuable and costly Vanilla plant (Vanilla planifolia), by using artificial means of fructification, after all the many expensive experiments previously made had failed, because the insect which effects the fructification of the plant in its original climate, the West Indies, is not found in Java. At present the yield is so great, that not alone does Mr. Teijsmann annually secure and send to market several hundredweights of this aromatic pod, but several other landowners have applied themselves to the laying out of Vanilla plantations. The fruit, from six to ten inches in length, by three to five lines in width, of a dark brown colour, flexible, and somewhat unctuous to the touch, requires about five months to ripen. They are carefully dried, first in the shade and afterwards in the sun, and are then packed away in bundles in air-tight metal cases. One hundred pounds of fresh pods yield about one pound of the Vanilla of commerce. Formerly the value of a pound of Vanilla was as high as £6 sterling, but it is at present sold at about £4.
In the beautifully situated Hotel Bellevue, where we lived while at Buitenzorg, we chanced to become acquainted with a curious individual, a young negro named Aquasie Boachi, son of an African prince of Coomassie, the chief city of the kingdom of Ashantee on the Gold Coast,[44] who, while a child of nine years, had been sent by the colonial government to Europe, in order to be educated in Germany. It was the intention to make apparent what early education and instruction can do for the negro, and how the present low state of the black race is principally attributable to their oppression hitherto, and to the limited application, in their case, of European civilization. The experiment proved most satisfactory. Aquasie Boachi speaks German, English, Dutch, and French quite fluently, and holds a diploma, as mining engineer, from the mining academy of Freiberg in Saxony. He is a pupil of the celebrated Professor Bernhard Cotta, whom he still remembers with affection and gratitude. As Aquasie had become a Christian he could not, save at the risk of his life, return to his heathenish native land, to the bosom of his own family. The Dutch Government accordingly, regarding him in the light of a victim to philanthropical experiments, at present pays the young miner out of the state funds about £400 per ann., and occasionally employs him on mining researches. Aquasie had resolved to settle for life in Germany, where, as he told us, he felt himself thoroughly at home, but the climate did not agree with him, upon which he returned to Java, and had since occupied himself in coffee-culture.
From the terrace of the hotel one enjoys a magnificent prospect bounded by the mountains around. On the right rises a lofty peak, whose summit-cone has been cloven into three pinnacles, the Gunung Salak 7204 feet (English), an extinct volcano, from which, however, in 1699 issued immense volumes of sand and mud, accompanied by columns of flames, tremendous bellowings, and convulsions of the soil. The torrent of liquid mud hurried along trunks of trees, carcasses of animals, tame as well as wild, crocodiles and fish, and, still preserving its character of a mud torrent, rushed into the sea near Batavia, stopping up the mouths of several rivers and brooks. Since then this colossal hill, torn to its innermost core by this fearful eruption, has remained silent, and peaceful fields, alternating with luxuriant forest, stretch upwards to the very flanks of its once dreaded summit. To the left of Gunung Salak, and in appearance and elevation far more imposing, stands out the Gedee Range. Its highest point is the tapering regular cone of Gunung Pangerango, still further to the left of which rises, almost equal in height, the bare rocky wall of the still active crater of Gunung Gedeh, from the abyss of which there occasionally issued light clouds of vapour. But this exquisite landscape unveils itself to the ravished view of the beholder only during the early hours of morning. By 10 A.M. thin vapours have gathered round those lofty summits, which gradually accumulate as noon approaches, until by 3 P.M. there is almost invariably a dense mass of clouds resting over the entire range, which very frequently dissolve with fearful violence in the shape of tremendous tropical thunder-storms. The annual rainfall at Buitenzorg would seem to be higher than at any other spot on the face of the earth. During some years it occasionally attains the depth of 200 inches (English), which is far beyond the utmost known in Central or Southern America.[45]
The evening we spent at the residence of M. Van de Groote, inspector of the tin-mines of Banka and Borneo, who was of very great use to the geologist of the Expedition, and at whose hospitable house we met a number of personages of distinction.
On the following morning (14th May), before prosecuting our journey, we made an excursion to the neighbouring Batoetoelis (pronounced Batootoolis), as a number of trachytic rocks are called, to which young Javanese wives, who wish to become mothers, ascribe the most marvellous virtues. The inscriptions hewn on the stones have been deciphered by the German philologist, Dr. Friedrich. There is also shown a stone with a depression like a human foot, which tradition asserts to be the footstep of a native prophet, who is supposed to have stood thereon at a time when the mass was not yet solid and hardened. There evidently is some association of ideas similar to that of the Cingalese respecting Adam's Peak, but without the poetic colouring of the latter.
From Buitenzorg we went to Tjipannas,[46] a country-seat of the Governor-general, at the foot of Pangerango. The road from Buitenzorg to Tjipannas is part of the great post-road from Batavia to Surabaya, which just at this point traverses the mountain pass of Mengamendoeng, 4925 feet high, an outlier of the Gedeh range. It passes at first through richly-cultivated properties, with splendid rice-crops, and a little further on through coffee plantations, after which comes uninhabited wilderness, when the road becomes so steep that a pair of buffalos are harnessed in front of the horses of each carriage. En route we visited at Pondok-Gedeh the beautiful property of the family of Van den Bosch, whose founder greatly distinguished himself in promoting the agricultural prosperity of the island, while Governor-general of the colony, 1830-33. In the extensive gardens here we saw several large species of Vanilla and Cactus (Nopal), the latter of which are devoted to the propagation and gathering of the diminutive cochineal insect, from which is procured such a valuable dye. In 1826, a pair of this very fecund insect were brought from Spain to Java, and at present[47] there are in Pondok-Gedeh alone 500,000 plants, from which between 10,000 and 20,000 pounds of cochineal are obtained annually, while other gardens of Nopal of equal size occur elsewhere throughout the island. We were also filled with astonishment at the variety and richness of the brushwood and forest trees, which the European is accustomed to see only as diminutive, tender specimens, the rare plants of a hot-house! Under the influence of a tropical climate, and a fruitful soil, the tea plant, the nutmeg, the cinnamon, the sugar-cane, the coffee bean, and the indigo, all flourish in wildest profusion, and the various warehouses are as crammed with the splendid produce of these valuable colonial staples as our northern granaries are with the necessaries of subsistence in the shape of dried fruits.[48]
Quite close to Pondok-Gedeh, amid the majestic mountain scenery of Gadok, is the maison de Santé of Dr. Steenstra Toussaint, which enjoys a well-earned reputation under the management of Dr. Bernstein, a German physician and naturalist. Invalid residents of the coast, when recovering from climatic diseases, make a point of hurrying to this institution, in order to benefit by the keen, bracing mountain air. Dr. Bernstein is, as far as his professional engagements will admit, at once a zealous collector, and a skilful preparer, who has already made some very beautiful collections, and who, if he stay here any length of time, will be in a position to enrich considerably the museums of natural history in Europe, with numerous rare and valuable specimens.
Just at the summit of the pass of Megamendoeng (dark cloud), begin the Preanger Regencies. This pass moreover forms a boundary line between the Malay language, chiefly used for commercial transactions along the coast, and that of Sunda, the difference between which two idioms, as regards the uninformed stranger is only so far important, that in asking a native for a light for his cigar, he must now say "Sono," instead of "Api," as hitherto, always supposing that he is a smoker, a qualification which rarely fails to appertain to the inhabitants of the Dutch East Indies.
Here, in a wooden building open on all sides, and commanding an exquisite panoramic view, we partook of a déjeuner à la fourchette, prepared quite in the European style, after which, amidst a drenching thunder-plump, we pursued our course to Tjipannas, which lies about 1000 feet below the level of the pass.
At every village we passed, the authorities, as is the custom of the country, provided us with an escort. Thus we almost constantly had some 20 or 30 persons riding behind our carriages. The poor people had indued themselves in their best apparel, and looked very pretty in their varied fantastic attire. Even the rain, which still continued to descend in torrents, did not prevent them from following us, in order to do justice to the requirements of Javanese etiquette. So too, every one whom we met on the road assumed a respectful attitude, resting on the knees in a half-kneeling position, and cowering down in the road with folded hands, till our vehicle had rolled by. All the villages we saw had a very neat, clean, cheerful appearance. The houses of the Javanese (with the exception of those of the native authorities) are as a rule built entirely of bamboo, part being of wicker-work, part of the cane placed either side by side, or above each other, the whole roofed in with palm-leaves, or Allang grass (Imperata Allang), or narrow shingles of cut bamboo, and with a flooring raised two or three feet above the level of the soil. The beautiful yellow wicker-work is usually stained in alternate squares of so black a colour that the walls of a Javanese hut resemble nothing so much as a gigantic draught-board. Under the eaves of the dwelling, which project five or six feet, and is supported in front upon poles, so that there is a sort of verandah beneath, are suspended cages with various feathered inhabitants, which the Javanese cherish with much tenderness, or else a very peculiarly constructed bee-hive, consisting of a bamboo-cane, six or nine inches thick by three or four feet in length, which is split through the centre, hollowed out, and fastened together again on the upper side.
Through a small orifice left in front, this artificial cavity is within a week or two peopled with a swarm of tiny stingless bees (Meliporia minuta) which in the wild state inhabit the holes and cavities of the calcareous cliffs, and provide the Javanese with honey and wax. The latter product is blackish, slimy, and adhesive, and is employed in the delineation of the beautifully coloured figures in the gowns (Sarongs) of the native women.
At the station of Tjianjawar, we were saluted, while changing horses, by a Javanese chief, from Tjiangoer, named Radben Rangga Padma Negara, who, despite the tremendous tropical rains, accompanied us on horseback in his rich uniform, overlaid with gold lace, as far as Tjipannas, where we were received by two government officials, and welcomed with the utmost cordiality. Here it was arranged we were to pass the night, so as, early the following morning, to make the ascent of Gunung Pangerango. We also found awaiting us a letter from Dr. Junghuhn, the renowned geologist and writer on the natural history of Java, who for years has resided about a day's journey from Tjipannas, at Lembang, at the foot of Tankuban-Prahu, and has latterly been engaged by government to superintend the china-plant cultivation. Dr. Junghuhn had come to meet us as far as Tjipodas, where the first attempts at cultivation of the china plant were being made with roots imported from South America, but, owing to a press of important business, was compelled to return to his own station before we reached the Preanger Regencies. This estimable German gentleman urgently besought us, by letter, to visit him in his forest abode, and painted in the most glowing colours the wonders of Nature, and the interest in a scientific point of view of his mighty mountain neighbour. At the same time he sent over his learned assistant, Dr. de Vrij, to welcome in his name the Austrian travellers, to explain to them in all their detail the Cinchona-plantations at the foot of Pangerango, and to enlighten them as to the present condition and prospects of this very important branch of cultivation.
On the morning of 15th May we set off on horseback for the Pangerango, which was covered with dense vapours, which wholly concealed it from view, and rather damped our hopes of enjoying a fine view from the summit. A path for horses has been made to the very top, and although at certain points this passes over exceedingly steep ground, yet the Javanese horses climb with such safety and dogged perseverance, even in the most dangerous spots, that one may leave these small but powerful animals to choose their way, with as much confidence as in the case of that most sure-footed of animals, the mule of South America. Our cavalcade consisted of thirty riders, while an immense number of natives took on themselves the duties of an honorary body-guard. The forests, usually so lonely, were now alive with hundreds of men, busy transporting our horses, provisions, couches, tables, and stores, which were all to be conveyed to the highest peak of the mountain, where we intended to spend the evening. After we had attained a considerable distance from Tjipannas, constantly ascending till we were about 4000 feet above it, we found the flanks of the mountain quite free of wood. The traveller sees a few villages scattered at random, and rides over grass pasturages, on which are feeding troops of buffalos, alternating with plantations of tobacco or coffee. But at the very point where the forest gradually begins, where gigantic trees have been left standing like so many sentinels, there it is that the amazed European falls in with most luxuriant beds of artichokes and strawberries, and is welcomed on this distant soil by all the well-known fruits of his remote home. The path leads past Tjipodas, into a deep narrow valley, overgrown with the most luxuriant vegetation, and thence through a forest of indescribable majesty, filled with the straight, tapering, pillar-shaped trunks, 80 to 100 feet in height, of the imposing Rasamala (Liquidambar-Altingiana), and a thoroughly tropical underwood of wild Musaceæ, and splendid tree-ferns, till finally the broad plateau-shaped Tjiburum (red-water) is reached. Here at an elevation of 5100 feet we found some Pasanggrahans, or resting-houses, erected by government for the shelter and accommodation of all travellers through these mountain solitudes, who may happen to be surprised by night, or inclement weather. Such hostelries are found everywhere in the interior of Java, especially in those districts where they are most likely to be needed by European travellers, or by government employés, during their frequent tours of inspection, in which they occasionally undergo severe privations. At Tjiburum, lying far above the regions inhabited by man, there is a small nursery of useful plants of colder climes, bearing ample testimony to the indefatigable activity of Mr. Teijsmann of Buitenzorg, to whom the community is moreover chiefly indebted for the laying out of the entire road to the summit of the mountain. As there was every indication of a severe storm coming on, and as we hoped by pressing forward to get to our goal before it should burst, we halted here only long enough to change horses. This done we again resumed the ascent, much refreshed by the delay, which imparted renewed vigour to climb the steep zig-zag pathway, which now led through a gloomy, silent forest, whence not a sound issued except the blowing of our cattle, as they breasted the steep, and far below us the hollow roar of the mountain brook, which swept through the valley beneath. We then found ourselves approaching nearer and nearer to some resounding torrent, which went on increasing, till to our amazement we suddenly perceived amid the keen cool mountain breezes a smoking cascade of hot water!! (Tji-olok, or Sulphur spring). This warm spring, with a temperature of 113° Fahr., which even at its source forms a tolerable-sized brook, issues with much spluttering from a trachytic rock close by the way-side, and rushes, brawling and foaming, down a narrow defile, overgrown with splendid tree-ferns, and which is crossed by means of a slight rustic bridge. Scarcely is it possible to conceive a richer landscape, recalling as it were the primeval days of earth in all the luxuriance of Nature in the flush of youth, than this forest of tree-ferns, enveloped in clouds of warm vapour, which rise from this volcanic spring, close alongside of a clear, cold mountain torrent, which just here leaps into the same chasm! This hot spring thus early indicates the presence of volcanic fires, which is further evidenced by a tract of volcanic débris, over which it is necessary to clamber, and which has been ejected by the destructive energies of the neighbouring active crater of Gedeh, from which the subterranean forces usually throw up, not red-hot lava-streams, but from time to time tremendous stone and mud currents, which, rushing down the steep flanks of the mountain, overrun and destroy everything around.
About 10 A.M. we reached Kandang Badak, or the spot where rhinoceroses 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°, while the mercury had now sunk to 48°.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°, 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°.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 débris 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 employés, 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 scoriæ, 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 scoriæ, 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 débris, 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 scoriæ. We could perceive only water, steam, mud, and sharp-cornered fragments of rock, the débris 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 scoriæ, 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°.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 Karangbólong 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 Karangbólong 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 (£350 to £420). 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 (5s. 10d.) per picul (125 lbs.), it fetches in Batavia, where the people are far more heavily taxed, 9 guilders (15s.) 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 (46s. 8d. to 50s.) 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 (£3,416,000). 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.