460 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCUIPELAGO. 



heavy rains, and a small stream, separate from the 

 main fall, was shooting over the high edge of the 

 precipice. On a steep declivity near by, a small 

 stream had coursed ]3art way down, completely hid- 

 den from view by the thick sheet of vegetation that 

 covered the rocks, until, striking some obstacle, it 

 flew off into the air in a great jet, which apj)eared to 

 come out of the solid rock. 



From Fort de Kock my course was nearly west a 

 day's ride to Paya Kombo. At first the road led 

 over a level or slightly undulating land which 

 abounds in villages, and is highly cultivated. A 

 number of small streams that rise on the northern 

 flanks of the great Merapi, flow northward across the 

 plain, and then turn to the east and join to form the 

 Batang Agam. Nine miles out we came to a range 

 of jagged hills, the scanty soil on their sides only 

 serving to make their sharp, projecting rocks more 

 conspicuous and unsightly, like a tattered garment 

 thro"wn over a skeleton. This rock I found to be a 

 highly crystalline marble of a blue color, completely 

 split up by joints and fissures into cubical blocks, 

 whose outer surfaces have everywhere become greatly 

 roughened by the action of rain and heat. Sub- 

 sequently I had an opportunity of learning that it 

 makes a very valuable kind of white lime. 



We presently found ourselves descending into a 

 beautiful valley, through which the Agam, already 

 a considerable stream, courses rapidly along. The 

 road immediately approached its banks, crossed it 

 over a high stone bridge, and then ran along a nar- 

 row terrace cut in a high precipice of the limestone 



