Scenery and Productions. 109 



square mile, just double that of the populous and fertile Ben- 

 gal Presidency as given in Thornton's Gazetteer of India, 

 and fully one-third more than that of Great Britain and Ire- 

 land at the last census. If, as I believe, this vast popula- 

 tion is on the whole contented and happy, the Dutch Govern- 

 ment should consider well before abruptly changing a system 

 which has led to such great results. 



Taking it as a whole, and surveying it from every point 

 of view, Java is probably the very finest and most interest- 

 ing tropical island in the woi-ld. It is not first in size, but 

 it is more than 600 miles long, and from 60 to 120 miles 

 wide, and in area is nearly equal to England ; and it is un- 

 doubtedly the most fertile, the most productive, and the 

 most populous island within the tropics. Its whole surface 

 is magnificently varied with mountain and forest scenery. 

 It possesses thirty-eight volcanic mountains, several of which 

 rise to ten or twelve thousand feet high. Some of these are 

 in constant activity, and one or other of them displays al- 

 most every phenomenon produced by the action of subter- 

 ranean 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 produc- 

 tions, 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 exceed- 

 ingly 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 flourish- 

 ed in it from an epoch of unknown antiquity till about the 

 year 1478, when that of Mohammed superseded it.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 



