, and sometimes blinds of split cane are rolled
up under the eaves, and can be let down to exclude the sun or rain.

I must describe a "passangerang," or guest-house, at several of which we
stopped for the night. It was a large bamboo-house, standing on a
raised terrace of brick, and with a broad verandah running all round it.
There was a centre hall to serve as the grand saloon, and several
well-furnished bedrooms on either side. The view was very beautiful.
The ground on every side undulated agreeably: on one side it sloped down
to a shining lake, bordered by a thick belt of wood, with a silvery
brook escaping from a narrow ravine, foaming and leaping into it; while
beyond arose the stately cone of the burning mountain of the Lamongan,
some four thousand feet in height, a wreath of white smoke curling from
its summit, from its base a green slope stretched off to the right,
whence, some twenty miles distant, shot up still more majestically the
lofty cone of the Semiru, a peak higher than that of Teneriffe; then,
again, another irregular ridge ran away to the north, among which is the
volcano of the Bromo. On another side could be seen the sea gleaming in
the far distant horizon, while over all the country near was a lovely
variety of cultivated fields, and patches of wood, and slopes of the
_alang-alang_, a long green grass with a very broad leaf, and here and
there a native kampong half concealed by its groves of fruit-trees.
Everything, both in form and colour, looked beautiful as it glittered in
the hot sunshine, while a fresh breeze from the south tempered the heat,
and reminded me of a summer day in England. A table was spread in the
verandah with a snow white tablecloth, and all the conveniences of
glass, plate, and cutlery, and covered with dishes of poultry, and
meats, and rice, and curries, pilaus, and soups, all well cooked, with
attendants doing their best to please us.

Little Maria was enchanted--she had seen nothing in her life before like
it; and all the sickness and perils she had gone through were forgotten.
Lieutenant Jeekel and I were much pleased also; and had I not had my
important enterprise in view, I should have liked to have spent many
days there. As we strolled out in the evening at dusk, we found two men
following us with spears; and when we inquired the reason of their
attendance, they said that they came to defend us from tigers. We
laughed at this, but they assured us that tigers wer