Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara Volume Ii Part 7

XII.

Java.

Stay from 5th to 29th May, 1858.

Old and New Batavia.--Splendid reception.--Scientific societies.--Public inst.i.tutions.--Natives.--A Malay emba.s.sy.-- Excursion into the interior.--Buitenzorg.--The Botanic Garden.-- The Negro.--Prince Aquasie Boachi.--Pondok-Gedeh.--The infirmary at Gadok, and Dr. Bernstein.--Megamendoeng.--Javanese villages.-- Tjipannas.--Ascent of Pangerango.--Forest scenery.--Javanese resting-houses or Pasanggrahans.--Night and morning on the summit of the volcano.--Visit to Gunung Gedeh.--The plantations of Peruvian bark-trees in Tjipodas.--Their actual condition.-- Conjectures as to the future.--Voyage to Bandong.--Spots where edible swallows'-nests are found.--Hospitable reception by a Javanese prince.--Visit to Dr. Junghuhn in Lembang.--Coffee cultivation.--Decay in value of the coffee bean of Java.-- Professor Vriese and the coffee planters of Java.--Free trade and monopoly.--Compulsory and free labour.--Ascent of the volcano of Tangkuban Prahu.--Poison Crater and King's Crater.--A geological excursion to a portion of the Preanger Regency.-- Native fete given by the Javanese Regent of Tjiangoer.--A day at the Governor-general's country-seat at Buitenzorg.--Return to Batavia.--Ball given by the military club in honour of the _Novara_.--Raden Saleh, a Javanese artist.--Barracks and prisons.--Meester Cornelis.--French opera.--Constant changes among the European society.--Aims of the colonial government.-- Departure from Batavia.--Pleasant voyage.--An English s.h.i.+p with Chinese Coolies.--Bay of Manila.--Arrival in Cavite harbour.

In order to get from the roadstead of Batavia to the "Stad Herberg," the sole landing-place for boats, distant some miles from the open sea, it is necessary to steer for some distance up the ca.n.a.l-like channel of the Tjiliwoeng (p.r.o.nounced _Chili-wung_) River. Old Batavia (Jacatra), built by the Dutch in 1619, on an extremely swampy and most unhealthy spot, is at present entirely abandoned by the white population, and the numerous handsome edifices still standing there are now only used as warehouses, counting-houses, and offices generally. Where in days of yore a hundred thousand human beings bustled to and fro, there are at present dwelling but a couple of thousand wretched, poverty-stricken Portuguese and Javanese. The Dutch in selecting such a site undoubtedly took their own Amsterdam for a model, and the houses were accordingly built as close as possible to each other, and several storeys high, a mode of building eminently unsuited to a tropical climate, and accordingly adding another element of insalubrity. The thick fog, which every evening at sundown spreads over the city, situate as it is hardly above the level of the sea, is not only very injurious to Europeans, but proves quite frequently fatal, so that by 5 P.M. old Batavia a.s.sumes the appearance of a city of the dead, and a regular emigration takes place in waggons, on horseback, or on foot, to the more elevated and therefore more healthy parts of the town, to Ryswick, Molenvliet, Weltevreden, &c., where during the last twenty years an entirely new and very elegant settlement has sprung up.

Handsome villas rise amid the blooming fragrant gardens, and everything is arranged in accordance with the requirements of a tropical climate; and of an evening, when the low verandahs and beautifully furnished drawing-rooms of these airy, well-ventilated mansions are profusely lit up, and filled with a gaily-dressed social circle, while numbers of equipages, carrying torches, flit through the wide streets, the whole scene has quite a fairyland appearance. The gloom without makes the dazzling brightness within-doors still more marked, and renders the law a perfect boon, by which no native, so soon as it becomes dark, is permitted to walk through the streets unless he carries a lighted torch (_obor_).

Owing to the distance intervening between each house, Batavia, although numbering only 70,000 inhabitants, apparently covers a larger area than Paris, and as the wealthy cla.s.ses are concentrated in the upper quarters of the town, just as they are in the West End of London, it is there that one may see all that Batavia has to show of luxury, comfort, and elegance.

The old haughty, aristocratic capital of the Netherland Indies, whose beauty once obtained for her the t.i.tle of "Queen of the East," is found here in more than pristine freshness, and not alone in wealth and splendour, but even in social stiffness and pedantic etiquette, vies with the most ultra-refined centres of fas.h.i.+on in Europe.

The _Novara_ had long been expected in Batavia, and months beforehand orders had been issued by the Governor-general to all the Dutch colonies in the East Indies, for the courteous reception of the Expedition, and energetically a.s.sisting its members. A German merchant from Celebes, whom we happened to meet the day of our arrival, informed us that in Maca.s.sar the entire population had been for several months past looking for the arrival of the foreign man-of-war, and those on the look-out at the signal-station, as often as a large s.h.i.+p made its appearance on the horizon, were continually hoping that it might prove to be the long-expected visitor.

All that the resources of a mighty and generous power, such as is that of Holland in Java, could furnish to make our short stay at the island as agreeable and instructive as possible was exhibited on the most lavish scale, and all that could be done to promote our objects in view by men of science, of which Java possesses a considerable number, and even some of European celebrity, was offered with the most praiseworthy alacrity.

Several eminent scholars and naturalists, headed by the renowned ichthyologist, Dr. Bleeker, who shortly before had been decorated with an Austrian order of merit for his valuable contributions to our knowledge of the natural history of the Sunda Islands, did the honours, so to speak, for the members of the scientific commission, of whom they became the constant companions.

The very day we landed we visited the Museum, in the company of our new friends, where we found an extremely interesting and most valuable collection, princ.i.p.ally of ethnographic objects. Here we saw idols of the palmy days of Buddhism, made of bronze and silver, beautifully carved, which came from the interior of Java, as also from Sumatra and the Engano Islands; clothes of the bark of trees, garments of fish-scales, of a species of _Scarus_ (probably _Scarus Schlosserii_), head-gear, armlets, and necklaces of the teeth of men and wild animals, richly adorned "creeses" or Malay daggers, lances and arrows of bamboo, whose iron heads were poisoned by a wash of a.r.s.enic mixed with lemon-juice; a great variety of musical instruments, among which were specimens of the well-known and singular _Gamelang_, which consists of a row of bells of all sizes and tones, which are struck with slender pieces of bamboo, and makes a regular orchestra of bells. There was also a very singular-looking collection of parasols, which as used by the natives are emblems of rank, and of which there are no less than thirty different kinds. Any one may carry a simple green, or blue, or black parasol, but those with gold thread or gold ta.s.sels are only permitted to be used by persons of a certain social standing, so that one may always know the social position of a Javanese by the parasol he carries, just as among the Chinese, rank is indicated by the number of peac.o.c.k feathers, and the colour of the b.u.t.ton on the bonnet. The higher the rank, the broader is the gilded fringe, so that the parasol of a Javanese prince of the highest rank is all gold together, and when fully expanded consists of three parasols, one above the other, which open by one and the same movement. Most of these parasols, prepared from the leaves of the screw-pine, are imported hither from China.

In one of the rooms is a statue of Durga, one of the G.o.ddesses of the old Hindoo mythology, moulded in metal, a present from the Sultan of Surakarta in the centre of Java to one of the former governors of the island, who presented this fine specimen of native art to the Museum. A large number of Javanese and Sunda MSS., written on palm-leaves, have been placed by, and at the expense of, the government in the hands of Dr.

Friedrich, a German philologist, to be deciphered and translated. In the same apartment we saw a large number of trachytes, with very beautiful sculptures and inscriptions, as also several figures from the island of Bali, quite modern in aspect, carved in wood and coa.r.s.ely painted, representing some beautiful female figures; other hideous caricatures, which are used by the natives as decorations of their household altar, but without any religious significance being attached to them. The fact that these sculptures are no longer, as formerly, executed in stone, but are carved in wood, may be held to evidence the decay of this branch of art. A rather considerable craniological collection, comprising some 60 heads of the various types of races inhabiting the Malay Archipelago and the adjoining continent, was in the most handsome manner presented to the Expedition, and must, considering the many difficulties which stand in the way of our acquiring correct scientific knowledge of this interesting question, especially among races inhabiting uncivilized countries, be regarded as an exceedingly valuable addition to our collections of objects of natural history at home.

The Ethnographic Museum and the library attached are, however, only branches thrown out by the indefatigable activity of the oldest scientific society in Java, the _Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen_, which, founded in 1778 by the Europeans then resident in Batavia, has since that period published some thirty volumes of valuable statistics of the various objects of which it takes cognizance, and is in correspondence with upwards of 150 learned societies. Since 1852 there has also appeared under the auspices of this Society, conducted by three members of the direction, Dr. Bleeker, Mr. Netscher, and Mr. Munnich, a monthly journal of Indian History, as also of physical and ethnographic statistics (the "_Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal Land en Volkenkunde_"), of which seven volumes have already appeared, published in 8vo. Not less valuable, especially in the interests of natural science, is the a.s.sociation known as the "_Natuurkundige Vereeniging_," which has been in existence since 1850, and, under the superintendence of that indefatigably active scholar Dr. Bleeker, has within that period published a considerable number of most interesting memoirs, while the Society for the advancement of Medical Science (_Vereeniging tot Bevordering der Geneeskundige Wetenschappen in Nederlandsch Indie_), under the guidance of the distinguished Dr. G. Wa.s.sink, has given to the world through its annual publications a large variety of experiences and observations on the study of Medicine.[34] All these scientific inst.i.tutions are the more deserving of commendation, when we reflect that there are but 6000 emigrants from Holland, scattered abroad throughout the Netherland Indies, of whom only some 3000 are in Batavia, and that the white population is for the most part constantly changing. It is obvious this latter condition must have this prejudicial effect, that the various branches of scientific inquiry cannot always enjoy a uniform degree of attention, and that the task of maintaining them in a proper degree of efficiency must depend almost exclusively upon the continuance in office and constant attention of individuals. Owing to this frequency of change the active prosecution of scientific inquiry has undergone marked fluctuations in Batavia, and while occasionally it was at the lowest ebb, so to speak, at another time, as happily was the case at the period of our visit, it presents, in the convergence of numerous powerful minds devoted to the pursuit of knowledge, the imposing spectacle of a strong set of public opinion towards intellectual enjoyment and cultivation.

Accompanied by Dr. Bleeker the members of the Expedition visited several of the most interesting of the public inst.i.tutions, the establishment of which reflects the greatest honour on the government, as well as the public-spirited individuals who projected them. The Military and Civil Hospital at Tjiliwoeng, or Great River, does not indeed present the palace-like appearance of the Misericordia Hospital at Rio, but the small neat buildings, one storey high, scattered among beautiful flower-gardens, and occupying a flat s.p.a.ce of great extent, are kept scrupulously clean, and are arranged with great comfort. Six physicians are on duty here, and the most exemplary care and attention are bestowed on patients. Officers and public servants who fall sick have, in particular, large, light, airy, elegantly furnished apartments; other patients are received into lofty, well-ventilated, s.p.a.cious halls, usually holding from 50 to 60 beds.

Altogether the hospital can accommodate 600 patients. The most common diseases are dysentery, intermittent fever, and heart and liver complaints. Here we saw numerous cases of _Beri-Beri_ (the Barbiers of English medical writers), that singular, usually incurable disease which begins with intermittent fever, and generally ends with paralysis of the spinal chord. In the year 1857, of 500 patients at Batavia no fewer than 348 were attacked with this frightful complaint, of whom 249 died within a brief s.p.a.ce. In the medical section of the _Novara_ publications will be found a complete account of this most interesting malady, which fortunately is very limited in its ravages, and hitherto has been almost exclusively confined to the natives.

In one of the wards we were shown a Dutch sailor labouring under an asthmatic attack, whose hands and feet had been shockingly mutilated in 1846 by pirates in the Straits of Malacca. We also found among the patients several German sailors and soldiers, whose transports of joy were unmistakeable on hearing once more the sound of their native language, and at the opportunity of conversing with a fellow-countryman.

The heavy expense of building in Batavia, and the anxious vigilance exercised over those of the community who are sick, will best be understood from the fact that one single new ward, making up from 60 to 80 beds, cost the government about 60,000 guilders (5000). One of the buildings, at a little distance from the rest, is set apart for female invalids, as also for lunatics and sick prisoners. Attached to this hospital is a school of midwifery for the instruction of native women in obstetrics, which at the period of our visit was attended by sixteen women from various islands in the Malay Archipelago, and which, in a land where the birth of a child is accompanied by so many superst.i.tious and hideous ceremonies, cannot fail to be followed by most beneficial results.

One very important and useful establishment is the Javanese medical school (_Geneeskundige School voor Inlanders_), which, founded in 1851 by Mr.

Bosch, at that period chief of the medical staff, is intended to supply the sons of the more prominent natives of Java and the adjacent islands with a thorough training in and acquaintance with the art of medicine as practised in Europe. Government defrays the travelling expenses of these youths, as also all expenses of maintenance and education. Among the four-and-twenty scholars here, we saw sons of native princes of Java, Palembang, Celebes, Amboina, Ceram, Sumatra, and Borneo, who intended following up the profession; and it is worthy of remark that two natives of Menado in the island of Celebes of the savage cannibal race of the Alfuras, were pointed out to us as among the most apt and docile of the scholars! Those of the students who are Christians, are clothed in the dress of Europeans, the rest, chiefly Mahometans, wear Oriental attire.

Instruction is imparted in Malay, since as a rule not one of the students on entering the college understands a word of Dutch. For the same reason the books usually employed in instruction cannot be made use of, while, owing to the poverty of the Malay language, any translation into it must be fraught with difficulty. All technical names are therefore converted into Latin. The course of instruction is carried on the first year in the cla.s.s-room, the second by the bed-side of the patient, or the dead body.

After strict and thorough examination each pupil receives a diploma as a "Doctor--Java," besides a monthly salary of from 2 2_s._ to 2 10_s._, and an outfit of the most important drugs and surgical instruments. By this system some fifty young men have already returned to their homes as physicians and government officials, and thus greatly contribute to the extension of European civilization.

In the chief streets of Batavia the stranger comes upon some small open watch-houses, or rather huts, consisting simply of four poles and a roof of palm thatch, in which is suspended a long, slender piece of wood (_Tong-tong_), which is used for three different objects. The Javanese who in this little hut is watching over the property and personal safety of the inhabitants, strikes the _Tong-tong_ with a sort of drum-stick, in order to announce the hours of the night, or to give notice of the outbreak of a fire, or in case of any one _running a-muck_. This singular phenomenon, in which a Malay with open knife or drawn dagger rushes madly through the streets, and seeks to kill every one he encounters, occurs perhaps a dozen times a year. The first murder is very probably intentional, the offspring of hate or revenge, but that once accomplished, the murderer, usually under the influence of opium, runs recklessly forward through the streets, with the wild cry of "Amok"--"Amok"

(Kill!--Kill!), knocking down and stabbing whoever he encounters. As one can only approach the miscreant at the peril of one's life, there is kept in these watch-houses a peculiarly constructed weapon of long wooden staves, and shaped at the upper end not unlike a hay-fork, with which the desperate wretch can be seized. The various methods in which the Tong-tong is struck at once conveys notice as to which one of the three announcements conveyed by the instrument it is the watchman's object to make.

The natives, although they divide themselves into the Java and Sunda nations, belong nevertheless to the same race, viz. the Malay, and are readily recognizable by their short thickset form, round face, wide mouth, short narrow nose, small black eyes, by their brown complexion, verging on yellow, and their luxuriant but always rough and coa.r.s.e hair. As to their moral characteristics, the Javanese are a mild, easily contented, temperate, simple, industrious people. The princ.i.p.al occupation of the 10,000,000 inhabitants of Java and Madura, is agriculture, which with them is at least equally, if not in a much higher degree, understood by them than by any other Asiatic community, with the exception of the Chinese. This is apparent from the neatness and careful cultivation of their fields, the excellent condition of their farm-stock, the careful observance of seed-time and harvest, and above all by their regular irrigation of the soil. When Java first became known to Europeans, the chief produce of the island consisted of rice, leguminous vegetables, indigo, and cotton. Intercourse with Europe has superadded to these two American products, maize and tobacco, and one African, coffee.[35] The Javanese have even less time for the mechanical arts than for agricultural pursuits, yet in the construction of boats and dwelling-houses, as also in making agricultural implements, s.h.i.+elds and weapons of war, they have more apt.i.tude than the majority of the people of the Malay Archipelago.[36] The only other stuff, except cotton, of which they make clothing is silk, chiefly the raw, coa.r.s.e, Chinese silk; all endeavours to naturalize the silk production in these islands having failed hitherto.

In addition to the ordinary language used for communication and every-day purposes there are in Java two special idioms,--Javanese in the centre and east of the island, and Sunda in the west of the island. The small river Losari in the province of Cheribon on the north side of the island indicates the boundary line of the two languages. Owing to the circ.u.mstance that both the idioms are used in Cheribon, many writers have deduced thence the origin of the name of that province, which signifies in Javanese "mingled," or mixed. The Javanese tongue, which of the two is far the more highly cultivated, has been a written language for untold ages, and its alphabet is universally used among the Sunda groups as well as in the adjoining Malay groups. Various inscriptions in stone and bra.s.s carry us back in the history of Java to the 12th century, and it would almost seem that the Javanese at that period had already attained the same degree of civilization as when four centuries later the Europeans for the first time landed on their soil.

Of the original Javanese language there are three dialects,--the language of the populace (Ngoko), or low Javanese, the ceremonial language (Kromo), known as high Javanese, and the old mystical dialect, or _Kawi_.

Javanese has borrowed a number of words from Sanscrit, Arabic, and Telingu, especially since the introduction of religion and commerce.

One of the most important events in the history of the Javanese was their conversion to Brahmanism, and still later to Mahometanism. The precise period at which the first of these took place seems to be as yet quite uncertain, but this much is known, that from the 13th to the 15th century Brahmanism prevailed in Java. The conversion of the Javanese to Islam, whose religion is at present professed by the great majority of the inhabitants,[37] took place in 1478 under the ruler of Salivana, after Arabian, Persian, Malay, and Mahometan Hindoos had since the year 1358 vainly endeavoured to introduce that faith.[38]

In addition to the native population there is also a large number of foreign settlers in Java, of whom the Chinese const.i.tute far the largest contingent. Their number is above 140,000, and would be much greater were their attempts at colonization not kept down by numerous limitations, and heavy taxes and imposts. The Chinese, who in more than one respect may be regarded as the Jews of India, are only admitted by the Indian Government at certain points of the coast, and in many of the Regencies must not transgress those limits. Although they are extraordinarily industrious, ingenious, and well suited for hard labour, yet the government is of opinion that their unchecked intercourse with the natives would inevitably prove prejudicial to the latter, who are plundered by the Chinese in every possible manner. Their main, indeed sole, object is to make money, and at all public auctions it is they who chiefly buy at a small price, and directly afterwards succeed in getting off their purchases at an enormous advance. One can purchase of these Chinese dealers at prices almost unheard of for cheapness, but quality and lasting capabilities are not guaranteed. A German writer compares the Kampong or Chinese quarter to a Polish country town on a fair day. Every house and store is crammed with all manner of useless trash, and everywhere there is the utmost bustle.

The most various articles are exposed for sale in each magazine. Here too are found the Chinese theatrical booths, in which at various hours throughout the day Chinese comedians, richly dressed in Chinese fas.h.i.+on, perform Chinese plays, which are applauded by a numerous ragged auditory, collected in the open s.p.a.ce in front!

Each Chinese colony, or _Kampong_, has a chief, appointed by government, with the t.i.tle of lieutenant, captain, or major, available within the limits of the Kampong, but which, it is needless to say, confers no military privileges. Those of the Chinese residing in Java belong to mutual societies, whose members a.s.sist each other, and which have not merely humanitarian, but also political tendencies.

We are in possession of the affiliation-ticket of a member of the native Chinese society of Hoei, or Tuite-Huy (Brotherhood of the Heavens and the Earth), printed on a fabric of reddish cotton, which bears 91 various written characters, for the following translation of which, as also for the accompanying particulars respecting the objects of this very remarkable society, we are indebted to the kindness of the renowned Chinese scholar, Professor J. Neumann of Munich:--

"The Brotherhood of the Heavens and the Earth frankly declares that it considers itself called on by the Supreme Being to put an end to the frightful contrast between wealth and poverty. In its view the possessors of earthly power and wealth have come into this world under the same ceremonies, and leave it in the same manner, as their defrauded brothers, the poor and oppressed. The Supreme Being never willed that millions should be held in slavery by a few thousands. Father Heaven and Mother Earth have never conferred on the few thousands the right to swallow up the property of millions of their brethren for the mere satiating their own luxury. To the rich and powerful their fortunes were never bestowed by the Supreme Being as an exceptional right; it consists rather in the labour and the 'sweat of the brow' of the millions of their oppressed brethren. The sun with his beaming face, the earth with her treasures of wealth, the universe with all its joys, are boons common to all, and must be seized from the grasp of the few thousands for the satisfaction of the necessities of the naked millions. The world must ultimately be purged of all oppression and woe; this must be initiated in brotherly unity, must be steadily followed up with mind and hand, and must be completed. The good seed of this brotherhood must not be stifled beneath noxious weeds, rather is it our duty to root up these noxious weeds, that overshadow all things, to the benefit and advancement of the good seed. The problem, be it frankly confessed, is a mighty and a difficult one, but let each man bethink him, that there is no victory, no redemption without storm and strife. Until the great majority of the dwellers of all the cities of each province have taken the oath of fidelity, each man may continue outwardly to obey the mandarins, and ingratiate himself with the police by presents.

Ill-timed demonstrations will injure the plan. So soon as the majority of the inhabitants in each city and province has acceded to the bond of our union, the old monarchy must fall to the ground, and we shall be able to found the new reign upon the ruins of the old. Millions of grateful brethren shall honour the founders of our brotherhood after they shall have gone to the grave, mindful of the mighty benefit they have conferred;--the redemption from chains and bondage of a ruined social system."

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Seal of Union of the Brotherhood of the Heavens and the Earth.]

The seal of union of this Brotherhood of the Heavens and the Earth is engraved with numerous hieroglyphics, and many-cornered in its inner circ.u.mference, 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:--

In close array the ranks of heroes stand, Obedient to the master-mind's command.

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:

Mingle brown, and white, and red, And strike till ev'ry foe lie dead.

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 una.s.sailable by the government. And accordingly, all precautions. .h.i.therto 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 emba.s.sy 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 ill.u.s.trious 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 ill.u.s.trious 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 amba.s.sadors as presents from the Kings of Lombok to the Governor-general. It is however strictly forbidden to the Dutch employes 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 amba.s.sadors 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 amba.s.sadors and the resident. The Governor-general in full official uniform, and surrounded by a number of government officials, received the emba.s.sy on a platform, where he sat on a beautifully covered gilt chair, canopied with costly tapestry. The elder of the two amba.s.sadors, 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 amba.s.sadors into the Malay language.

At last, after these stiff and wearisome formalities had been gone through, the amba.s.sadors 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 amba.s.sadors were thereupon ushered forth in the same ceremonious manner in which they had entered.

The occasion of the present emba.s.sy 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 k.o.c.k, 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 pa.s.s 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 quant.i.ty 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 a.s.sist 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 _hortula.n.u.s_, Mr. J. C. Teijsmann, who in his department a.s.sisted 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 Rame-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 flouris.h.i.+ng best in mountainous, dry soil, the other being chiefly used by the natives for the preparation of a dye.