ed as the Darjeeling of the Netherland Indies.

Here within four days' journey from Singapore, one may obtain a complete
change of climate, and if there were only more frequent direct steamer
communication between Singapore and Sourabaya, we predict with
confidence that Tosari would become a favourite health resort for those
who live on the northern side of the Equator. The rooms are comfortable,
the food is good, the facilities for amusements at nightfall are ample,
the walks and excursions are inexhaustible and the views are
magnificent. The tariff (seven guilders per day--$4.90 in Singapore
currency) is higher than that of any other hotel in Java, but those who
intend to stay for a fortnight or more could probably arrange more
favourable terms.

There is a resident doctor who has graduated in the Schools of Tropical
Medicine, and when we were in Tosari there were visitors from Burma,
Siam, Singapore, Penang, and all parts of Java, recruiting from malaria
and other ailments peculiar to Far Eastern residence. But they were not
all invalids, and formed a bright, companionable party.

The Teng'gerese who people this mountainous region are a race apart.
Their religion is a mixture of paganism and Buddhism, and, though
reputed to be kind and honest, they are an ignorant, uncouth, uncultured
people. They dwell _en famille_ in large square houses without windows,
in isolated kampongs on the projecting ridges of the mountains. The door
of each house is on the side nearest the Bromo crater, and as if
tradition gave them cause to fear another destructive eruption they
worship this volcano. Dirt prevails everywhere, and in consequence of
the cool climate and the scarcity of water they seldom bathe, a fact
that is very noticeable after one's acquaintance with the people of the
plains.

To go to Tosari without seeing the Bromo is tantamount to going to Rome
without entering St. Peter's. The journey is made on pony or in a sedan
chair, by way of the Moengal Pass and the Dasar or Sand Sea, which is in
reality the enormous Teng'ger crater, inside of which there are three
more craters, the Bromo being the only one showing signs of activity.

A better view and more impressive is obtained from the Penandjaan Pass,
a description of which is given in the next chapter.

Another trip worth making is to the lakes in the saddle-back mountain
between the Teng'ger and the Semeroe. From this high plateau, the ascent
of the Semeroe or Maham