Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara Volume Ii Part 9

At last, about midnight, shortly before which we pa.s.sed 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 p.r.o.nounced 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 fas.h.i.+on; 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 sh.e.l.ls, the wealthier cla.s.ses 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 antic.i.p.ation 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 a.s.similation 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 a.s.sistant 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 antic.i.p.ating 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 gra.s.s 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 grat.i.tude, 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 sh.e.l.led 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 s.h.i.+pment, 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, flouris.h.i.+ng 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 p.r.o.nounced 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.

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 circ.u.mstances 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 Maca.s.sar 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 ma.s.ses 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 s.h.i.+ning beneath the most exquisite l.u.s.trous crystals of sulphur. This sulphur, which is exhibited here piled up in immense ma.s.ses 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 ma.s.ses 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 pa.s.sing 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.

"Grat.i.tude to M. Visscher, the a.s.sistant 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 bal.u.s.trades must have been constructed solely to make this path pa.s.sable. 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 pa.s.sage 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, cla.s.sified 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_ gra.s.s (_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 d.y.k.es 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-Dada.s.s, 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 pa.s.ses 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 pa.s.s 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 pa.s.sing 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 pa.s.sage 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 ma.s.s 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 fas.h.i.+on, 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 workmans.h.i.+p, 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 ch.o.r.eographic art, despite the important part which dancing plays in their religious wors.h.i.+p, 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 att.i.tudes 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 bra.s.s 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 a.s.sembled 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 s.p.a.ce 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 pa.s.sed, and although many of these were s.h.i.+vering and chattering with the wet and cold, they were nevertheless inexorable in a.s.sisting 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 citizens.h.i.+p 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 ill.u.s.trative 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 pa.s.ses 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 Inst.i.tute, who most hospitably entertained the voyagers of the _Novara_ in his elegant, comfortable dwelling, and arranged a variety of amus.e.m.e.nts 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 cla.s.ses 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 a.s.sembly-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 princ.i.p.ally 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 att.i.tudes 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.