NOTOMBER I, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



3" 



Kangrx Valley. — There has been plentiful rainfall over this 

 district lately, but the register is still nearly 30 inches lower than 

 laat year to the same date. 



C'HiTTAGOSG. — The rains seem to have broken up and there is 

 nou- plenty o£ sun with an occasional afternoon showers ; the 

 nights have been cooler than is usual at this time of the year, and 

 leaf does not come so freely as could be wished. 



CINCHONA :— MR. MOENS' GREAT WORK 



ON " KINA-CULTUUR IN AZIE,— " 

 Valuable as the letterpress is, — must be deemed 

 cIiieQy and pre-eminently excellent on account of the 

 fact stated on tlie Dutch title-page in tlie uncouth 

 words " Met 33 platen en een Kaart." Like that 

 of most well educated Dutchmen, Mr. Moens' patri- 

 otism does not go the length of asserting a high 

 place for the language of Holland, with whatever 

 gi'and events and noble principles the rugged " low 

 Dutch" may be associated. The feeling is that any- 

 thing wi-itten in facile French, or still better in 

 finished and comprehensive English (and Mr. Moons 

 speaks English quite like a learned Englishman), could 

 be not only better expressed, but would be certain to 

 secure an immensely larger audience. Had the wishes 

 alone, therefore, of the accomplislied Iiead of tlie 

 Java Cinchona Gardens been consulted, we believe, he 

 would not have been described on the title page as 

 ' ' Du-ecteur de Gouvernenients Kina-Ouderneming in 

 Java"; nor would English readers be puzzled by the 

 conundrum of " Uitgegeven door de Vereeniglng tot 

 bevordering der geneeskundige wetenschappcn in 

 Nedcrlandsch-Indie." From such jawbreaking syllables 

 as the above, we have arranged to get some of the 

 more valuable portions of Mr. Moens' great work 

 translated. Meantime, the " 33 platen en een Kaart" 

 need no translation. The one map receives an additional 

 interest fi-om the awful volcanic outburst which has con- 

 centrated on the Straits of Sundaand the bordering lands 

 of Bantam in Java and the Lampongs in Sumatra, the 

 wonder and sympathy of the world. Any one look- 

 ing at the map here given of that portion of the 

 Preanger Regencies of which beautiful Bandong is 

 the centre and which includes the Tankoebauprahoe 

 ("Upturned-boat") cone and the "Malabar" ranges, 

 all alive with subteraimean tires, the smoke and 

 elllu\ia of which are patent to the sense, might well 

 ask, "Has the Dutch Government delilicrately chosen 

 the slopes of still active volcanoes as the sites of 

 their experimental cinchona gardens?" The answer 

 would certainly have to be in the affirmative. Forest 

 land at what was deemed the best elevation, with 

 rich virgin volcanic soil, a climate and other con- 

 ditions aualagous to those which distinguished the 

 Andean home of the fever plants, were present in 

 such positions, and as to the risks of volcanic and 

 earthquake catastrophes, Government and then' servants 

 could not well decline what the millions of their sub- 

 jects daily dared. When, under Mr. Mocus' kind and 

 intelligent guidance we visited the Nagrak and adjom- 

 ing plantations, we could not help at last exclaiming, 

 ' ' \Vith what strong smelling substance have you been 

 manuring your cinchonas." The Director smiled and 

 said, " No need for manure here : look up to the top of 

 the Tankoebauprahoe. You are within the influence of 

 the fumes from one of the largest volcanic craters in 

 Java or the world, to closer acquaintance with which 

 I shall, by and bye, introduce you." Mr. Moens was 

 as good as his word, and while memory remains 

 unimpah'ed we can never foi'get the awful scene in 

 what was literally a lake of fire and brimstone, of 

 Boda and seething mud, of voluracd smoke and steam 

 and gushing geysers. The fumes, though, not pleasant, 

 cnuuut be deleterious, for so iux from those e.xpoacd 



to their influence suffering, Mr._ Moens related with 

 great glee, the case of one of his subordinates whose 

 dwelling was so close to the lips of an active volcano 

 that he could not preserve a photograph of his family, 

 while every article of silver or white met d became 

 black as ebony. This man was promoted to a better 

 district, but he actually petitioned to be left in the 

 enjoyment of what had become his native air ! A 

 glance at the Map will shew that all the govei-mnent 

 cinchona plantations of Java, arc on the sides of or 

 amidst volcanoes which often give warning by earth- 

 quakes and shakes and tremors, that they may at 

 any moment burst out into fury such as that amidst 

 which Krakatau was engulfed and Anjer and so many 

 other towns, destroyed and the surrounding country 

 devastated. If we have not the deep rich soil of Java 

 in Ceylon, we are not liable at any. moment, by 

 means of forces ever and obviously at work, to 'be 

 blown into space or sucked down into an inferno 

 of scalding mud. All honour to those who, amidst 

 such scenes and in view of such passibilities, calmly 

 work on in the service of humanity and sjience. We 

 have the result ot this calm and courageous persever- 

 ance, in the work of Mr. Moens and the bemtiful 

 plates, most of them actual phototype reproductions 

 of the species and varieties of the cinchonas, which 

 the Government of Java was the tirst to introduce 

 into the Eas'ern World, * their original disappoint- 

 ment with C. Pahudiana being amply recompensed by 

 the subsequent marvellous success of C. Ledi/eriana. Pro- 

 minent amongst the sign-boards in Bitavia city, we 

 found that of " Woodbury Brothers, Photographers," 

 and we learned that these were the artists whose name 

 has been stamped on a process for perpetuating pho- 

 tographs, and by means of which Mr.- C. Lang of 

 Buitenzorg has reproduced photograjihs of epecimena 

 of the various cinchona trees and their diflferent parts 

 with an absolute fidelity to nature, such as is of 

 incalculable value to Botanical science. i\lr. Lang is 

 connected with a siilendid Government Museum and 

 Library at Buitenzoi-g, adjuncts ot the famous Bota- 

 nical Gurdens, in which the Governor General's re- 

 sidence is situated. The Museum and L brary build- 

 ing must have been erected or rc-erected in the time 

 ot the able man, who after serving as Secretary of 

 State for the Colonies in Holland, became Governor. 

 General of Java, for we found the name "Charles 

 F. Pahnd " engraved on a memorial stone in front of 

 the fiue building. It must have been vexatious to 

 this eminent man to have had his name associated 

 with aspeciesof Cinchona, the cultivation of which, from 

 its low yield of alkaloids has now been abandoned. Such 

 are the uncertainties even of science. Holland and 

 Britain commanded the services of men, eminent as 

 botanists, but it was to a bark collector, confessedly 

 ignorant of botany, that the world owes the introduc- 

 tion into the Eastern world, (Mr. Moena " Azie ") 

 of the prince of cinchonas, Ledoeriana. — Before pro- 

 ceeding to notice the " platen," however, we must 

 advert to one feature in the "Kaart," which as it 

 is not explained in the index, might puzzle beholders. 

 In 1880-81 a destructive murrain ijrevaihd in Java, 

 which threatened not only to destroy thu cattle be- 

 longing to the Mahiy peasantry, but to put a stop 

 to the great rice culture for which the services of 

 cattle are essential. To stay the ravages of the 

 epizootic the Dutch rulers of Java adopted the heroic 

 expedient of running a bamboo fence and establishing 

 a cordon right across the island. When we passed 

 from the infected distiicts into that of Biudong, (at 

 the top ot a mountain cammandiug a magnificent 

 view,) we were stopped to be disinfected, « e and our 

 driver and the ponies, by the application of a black 



* They inti-oduced the first "Kinus" iu ISof, while 

 the British did uot 6U«ct;ca iiutil ISOO. 



