During The Month
Which I Spent In The Interior Of West Java, I Never Had A Really
Hot Fine, Day Throughout.
It rained almost every afternoon, or
dense mists came down from the mountains, which equally stopped
collecting, and rendered it most difficult to dry my specimens,
so that I really had no chance of getting a fair sample of
Javanese entomology.
By far the most interesting incident in my visit to Java was a
trip to the summit of the Pangerango and Gedeh mountains; the
former an extinct volcanic cone about 10,000 feet high, the
latter an active crater on a lower portion of the same mountain
range. Tchipanas, about four miles over the Megamendong Pass, is
at the foot of the mountain. A small country house for the
Governor-General and a branch of the Botanic Gardens are situated
here, the keeper of which accommodated me with a bed for a night.
There are many beautiful trees and shrubs planted here, and large
quantities of European vegetables are grown for the Governor-
General's table. By the side of a little torrent that bordered
the garden, quantities of orchids were cultivated, attached to
the trunks of trees, or suspended from the branches, forming an
interesting open air orchid-house. As I intended to stay two or
three nights on the mountain, I engaged two coolies to carry my
baggage, and with my two hunters we started early the next
morning.
The first mile was over open country, which brought us to the
forest that covers the whole mountain from a height of about
5,000 feet.
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