Bali. 161 



shade of some mango-trees close by the house, several women- 

 merchants were selling cotton goods ; for here the women 

 trade and work for the benefit of their husbands, a custom 

 which Mohammedan Malays never adopt. Fruit, tea, cakes, 

 and sweetmeats were brought us ; many questions were asked 

 about our business and the state of trade in Singapore, and 

 we then took a walk to look at the village. It was a very dull 

 and dreary place; a collection of narrow lanes bounded by 

 high mud walls, inclosing bamboo houses, into some of which 

 we entered, and were very kindly received. 



During the two days that we remained here I walked out 

 into the surrounding country to catch insects, shoot birds, and 

 spy out the nakedness or fertility of the land. I was both 

 astonished and delighted ; for as my visit to Java was some 

 years later, I had never beheld so beautiful and well cultivated 

 a district out of Europe. A slightly undulating plain extends 

 from the sea-coast about ten or twelve miles inland, where it 

 is bounded by a fine range of wooded and cultivated hills. 

 Houses and villages, marked out by dense clumps of cocoa- 

 nut palms, tamarind and other fruit-trees, are dotted about in 

 every direction; while between them extend luxuriant rice- 

 grounds, watered by an elaborate system of irrigation that 

 would be the pride of the best cultivated parts of Europe. 

 The whole surface of the country is divided into irregular 

 patches, following the undulations of the ground, from many 

 acres to a few perches in extent, each of which is itself per- 

 fectly level, but stands a few inches or several feet above or 

 below those adjacent to it. Every one of these patches can 

 be flooded or drained at will by means of a system of ditches 

 and small channels, into which are diverted the whole of the 

 streams that descend from the mountains. Every patch now 

 bore crops in various stages of growth, some almost ready for 

 cutting, and aU in the most flourishing condition and of the 

 most exquisite green tints. 



The sides of the lanes and bridle-roads were often edged 

 with prickly Cacti and a leafless Euphorbia, but the country 

 being so highly cultivated there was not much room for indig- 

 enous vegetation, except upon the sea-beach. We saw plenty 

 of the fine race of domestic cattle descended fi'om the Bos- 

 banteng of Java, driven by half-naked boys, or tethered in 



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