changes of
Britain's possessions in the Far East and the personal influence of the
builders of the Empire, can find food for reflection in the sacrifices
made by those men and women who are ever found on the Empire's
frontiers. The sight of this memorial among the kanari trees in the
tropical island of Java makes us think of the tablet in the little
parish church on the hill at Hendon, near which this woman's husband
lies buried.

The inscription runs as follows:--

"Sacred to the memory of Olivia Marianne, wife of Thomas
Stamford Raffles, Lieutenant-Governor of Java and its
dependencies, who died at Buitenzorg on the 26th November, 1814.

"Oh thou whom ne'er my constant heart
One moment hath forgot.
Tho' fate severe hath bid us part
Yet still--forget me not."

The traveller who has only a fortnight or three weeks to devote to Java
must awake betimes. In any event, he must needs be early to take
advantage of the express trains, and in our case we had only a day to
devote to Buitenzorg, where the Governor-General of the Netherland
Indies has his palace.

With the exception of the short run from Tandjong Priok, it was our
first acquaintance with the railway service, and when we saw the crowd
awaiting to entrain at Weltervreden Station we decided to travel
first-class, contrary to the advice of our friends. It was well we did
so on this occasion, for the train was overcrowded; but afterwards we
travelled only by the second-class, and found it as comfortable as one
could wish. Indeed, so few persons travel in the first-class
compartments of the trains that we are astonished that any are retained
by the management. Throughout Java we found the railway service
excellent in every respect. The carriages are comfortable. Ample
accommodation is given for each person. It is possible to stow away a
considerable amount of barang or baggage in the carriages, and full
advantage is taken of this facility by the Dutch and native travellers.
The lavatory accommodation is better than we have seen it in the fast
expresses on the principal lines in England, and on the through service
expresses there are restaurant cars where meals may be partaken of at a
moderate tariff. We cannot say we always found the food palatable, for
the Chinamen who are in charge appear to have a fixed idea that the
"beef-stuk," which is the piece de resistance, should be served up raw.
In course of time, doubtless, t