148 A COLLECTING TRIP 
written, the two months trip in the Moluceas and to 
New Guinea was very good indeed. Today I saw some 
of the prints of Humboldt’s bay and they are very 
fine, [am happy to say. The climate here is gocd com- 
pared to the coast plains of Java and the rest of the 
East Indies. But it is very damp and rainy all the 
afternoons and in the forenoons it is up to 95 and 96 
in the shade. I am writing from the back piazza of 
our room, overlooking a beautiful valley of waving 
palms and glistening rice fields cut by a swift torrent 
from the voleano Salak, of which I get a magnificent 
view nearly every morning. I go to the museum about 
6.30 and remain here until 8; we have breakfast at 
8.30 and at 9 I am back at the museum, remaining 
there until 1, wnen everything shuts up here, ineclud- 
ing banks and the telegraph office, on account of the 
Dutchman’s desire to sleep off his midday meal — 
which truly demands it. The daily rice table affords 
a comprehensive, categoric, gastronomic glimpse inte 
all the native and some of the imported products in 
Java. I might give you an account of today’s rice 
table, and it was very good indeed. Rice, one quart, 
on this are put the following in the order named, 
after which the whole is to be mixed up and con- 
sumed : Rice, then curry sauce, very thin, then two 
other kinds of thick brown gravy, fried eggs, fried 
grated cocoanut, red pepper, chutney, boiled chicken, 
boiled duck, fried chicken, roast chicken, fried fish, 
liver and beef heart, cold sliced cucumber, chutney, 
thin cake of white of eggs, fried bananas, then pork 
scraps, Hamburg steak balls, and then perhaps ten or 
fifteen other ingredients, but with only native names, 
so hot that you jump when they touch your tongue. 
