NATURAL HISTORY 



585 



of the root is caiefully separated, 

 and cleared of all the adherent 

 earth ; a proportionate quantity 

 of water is poured on, and it is 

 boiled about an hour, when the 

 fluid is carefully filtered through 

 a white cloth ; it is then exposed 

 to the fire again and boiled down 

 to nearly the consistence of an 

 extract ; in this state it much re- 

 sembles a thick snup. The fol- 

 lowing spices, liaving been pre- 

 pared as above described, are 

 added in the same proportion as 

 to the Antshar; viz. Kicnipferia 

 Galang-a, (Kontsluu-,) Soonty, &c. 

 Dshey, for common onion, garlic, 

 and black pepper. 



The expressed juice of these is 

 poured into the vessel, which is 

 once more exposed to the fire a 

 few minutes, when the prepara- 

 tion is complete. The Oopas of 

 both kinds must be preserved in 

 verv close vessels. 



VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS OF MUD 

 AND SALT IN THE ISLAND OF 

 JAVA. 



(By T. S. Goad, Esq. of the Hon. Com- 

 pany's Bengal Civil Service.) 



Having received an extraordi- 

 nary account of a natural pheno- 

 menon in the Plains of (irobogan, 

 fifty pals or miles N.E. of Solo, 

 a party, of which I was one, set 

 off' from Solo on the 8th of Sep- 

 tember, 181.5, to examine it. 



On approaching the village of 

 Kuhoo, we saw, between two 

 trees in a plain, an appearance 

 like the surf breaking over rocks, 

 with a strong spray faUing to 

 leeward. The spot was com- 

 pletely surrounded by huts for the 



manufacture of salt, and at a dis- 

 tance looked like a large village. 

 Alichting we went to the Bhi- 

 diigs, as the Javanese call them. 

 Tl^ey are situated in the village of 

 Kuhoo, and by Eurojieans are 

 called by that name. We found 

 them to be on an elevated plain 

 of mud, about two miles in cir- 

 cumference, in the centre of 

 which immense bodies of salt 

 mud were thiown up to the 

 height of from ten to fifteen feet, 

 in the form of large globes, 

 which, bursting, emitted volumes 

 of dense wliite smoke. These 

 large globes or bubbles, of which 

 there were two, continued throw- 

 ing up and bursting seven or 

 eight times in a minute by the 

 watch. At times they throw up 

 two or three tons of mud. We 

 got to leeward of the smoke, and 

 found it to smell like the washing 

 of a gun-barrel. As the globes 

 burst, they thiew the mud out 

 from the centre, Avith a pretty 

 loud noise, occasioned by the fall- 

 ing: ol the mud uj)on that which 

 surrounded it, and of which the 

 plain is composed. It was diffi- 

 cult and dangerous to approach 

 the large globes or bubbles, as 

 the gi-ound Avas all a quagmire, 

 except where tlie surface of the 

 mud had become hardened by the 

 sun ; upon this we approached 

 cautiously to within fifty yards of 

 the largest bubble, or mud-pud- 

 ding, as it might very properly be 

 called, for it was of the consis- 

 tency of a custard- pudding, and 

 of very considerable diameter ; 

 here and there, where the foot 

 accidentally rested on a spot not 

 sufficiently hardened to bear, it 

 sunk, to the no small distress of 

 the walker. 



We 



