THE FLANKS OF THE MERAPI. ~ 481 



Batu Bragon, at its nortliern end, and in a north- 

 westerly direction to Padang Panjang. 



On the west side of the lake, from the mouths of 

 the deep ravines, extend bands of naked stones, which 

 form, as it were, paved highways — the highways, 

 indeed, that Nature has made for man to go up among 

 her sublime mountains. 



Between Samawang and Batu Bragon I crossed 

 several beds of these dry torrents. The boulders in 

 them were mostly of lava, and rapidly falling aj)ai*t 

 into a coarse, sharp-edged shingle. Fragments of 

 syenite also appeared. These stones had been washed 

 down from the neighboring hills, and were piled up 

 in long winrows, as if they had been as light as chaff 

 — so great is the transporting power of these moun- 

 tain torrents, that only exist during the heavy rains. 



From Batu Bragon the road ascended the flanks 

 of the Merapi, which are under the highest state of 

 cultivation — most of them terraced for rice, but 

 some sugar-cane is also raised here. To press out 

 its juices, two cylinders of wood are placed perpen- 

 dicularly in a wooden frame, and several spirals are 

 made on each, so that they will exactly fit into each 

 other like the cogs of two wheels. One of these is 

 turned round by a long lever drawn by a buffalo, 

 the other cylinder revolving at the same time, but, 

 of course, in the opposite direction. The stalks of 

 the cane are put in on one side, and the juices are 

 gathered in a large vessel beneath. This they boil 

 into a syrup, and, some say, crystallize it into sugar. 



Again and again, as I was ascending to Padang 

 Panjang, I turned to enjoy once more the magnifi- 



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