A Modern Civilization Of Another Type
Is Now Spreading Over The Land.
Good roads run through the
country from end to end; European and native rulers work
harmoniously together; and life and property are as well secured
as in the best governed states of Europe.
I believe, therefore,
that Java may fairly claim to be the finest tropical island in
the world, and equally interesting to the tourist seeking after
new and beautiful scenes; to the naturalist who desires to
examine the variety and beauty of tropical nature; or to the
moralist and the politician who want to solve the problem of how
man may be best governed under new and varied conditions.
The Dutch mail steamer brought me from Ternate to Sourabaya, the
chief town and port in the eastern part of Java, and after a
fortnight spent in packing up and sending off my last
collections, I started on a short journey into the interior.
Travelling in Java is very luxurious but very expensive, the only
way being to hire or borrow a carriage, and then pay half a crown
a mile for post-horses, which are changed at regular posts every
six miles, and will carry you at the rate of ten miles an hour
from one end of the island to the other. Bullock carts or coolies
are required to carry all extra baggage. As this kind of
travelling world not suit my means, I determined on making only a
short journey to the district at the foot of Mount Arjuna, where
I was told there were extensive forests, and where I hoped to be
able to make some good collections.
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