30 TRAVELS IX THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELA(40. 



square, surrounded by rows of shade-trees and tlie resi- 

 dences of the wealthier merchants. Near this is the 

 " Waterloo Plain." On one of its sides is the larg- 

 est building in Batavia, containing the offices of the 

 various government bureaus, and the " throne-room," 

 where the governor-general receives, in the name of 

 the king, congratulations from the higher officials in 

 that vicinity. 



The governor-general has a palace near by, but 

 he resides most of the time at Buitenzorg, forty 

 miles in the interior, where the land rises to about a 

 thousand feet above the level of the sea, and the 

 climate is much more temperate. 



A river, that rises in the mountains to the south, 

 flows through the city and canal, and empties into 

 the bay. Many bridges are thrown over this river 

 and its branches, and beautiful shade-trees are planted 

 along its banks. 



All the houses in these Eastern lands are low, rarely 

 more than one story, for fear of earthquakes, which, 

 however, occur in this part of the island at long 

 intervals. The walls are of bricks, or fragments of 

 coral rock covered with layers of plaster. The roof 

 is of tiles, or atap^ a kind of thatching of palm-leaves. 

 A common plan is, a house part parallel to the street, 

 and behind this and at right angles to it an L or 

 porch, the whole building being nearly in the form 

 of a cross. 



In front is a broad veranda, where the inmates 

 sit in the cool evening; and receive the calls of their 

 friends. This opens into a front parlor, which, v^dth 

 a few sleeping-rooms, occupies the whole house part. 



