produced by the action of subterranean
fires, except regular lava streams, which never occur in Java. The
abundant moisture and tropical heat of the climate causes these
mountains to be clothed with luxuriant vegetation, often to their very
summits, while forests and plantations cover their lower slopes. The
animal productions, especially the birds and insects, are beautiful
and varied, and present many peculiar forms found nowhere else upon the
globe.

The soil throughout the island is exceedingly fertile, and all the
productions of the tropics, together with many of the temperate zones,
can be easily cultivated. Java too possesses a civilization, a history
and antiquities of its own, of great interest. The Brahminical religion
flourished in it from an epoch of unknown antiquity until about the
year 1478, when that of Mahomet superseded it. The former religion
was accompanied by a civilization which has not been equalled by the
conquerors; for, scattered through the country, especially in the
eastern part of it, are found buried in lofty forests, temples, tombs,
and statues of great beauty and grandeur; and the remains of extensive
cities, where the tiger, the rhinoceros, and the wild bull now roam
undisturbed. 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
requ