THE NETHERLANDS-EAST-INDIES. 7 



drikkade, Scheepvaarthuis) is prepared, provided there is sufficient 

 supply, to send a time-table for the current half year. 



Undoubtedly it is necessary for every traveller to have at least 

 sufficient knowledge of Malay the lingua franca of the Archi- 

 pelago , to be able to hold a simple conversation. It should be 

 observed here that both the English pronuncation of that language 

 as well as the spelling differs a good deal from the Dutch. The 

 natives' measures and weights which may vary more or less ac- 

 cording to locality also should be known (see the Encyclopaedia and 

 Annual Government-Directory of the Dutch East Indies). 



Those who are not handicapped by time, as a rule travel much 

 more cheaply than those who are in a hurry. The latter therefore 

 should possess a wellfilled purse, in order to be able to hire the 

 faster means of conveyance (motor-cars, launches) for their private 

 use, which are available now and then (see sub Communication). 



2. GENERAL REMARKS. 



Though in compiling this information travellers with a scientific 

 object are kept uppermost in mind the greater part of it also will 

 be found of use to those who travel with another object in view 

 such as technical studies etc. Besides it should be observed, that 

 the information is primarily intended for the individual traveller 

 rather than for some expedition consisting of several members. 



a. For travellers of field professions (biologists and geologists) it 

 is preferable to travel during a period of little or no rainfall, when 

 the rain especially falls in the afternoon and leaves the mornings 

 dry. Now there probably is no part of the world, where the con- 

 ditions of rainfall may differ so much within relatively short 

 distances, as in the Malay Archipelago. The traveller is therefore 

 urgently advised to acquaint himself accurately with this subject. 

 He may do so by studying the work of Dr. J. P. van der Stok: 

 Wind and weather, tides and currents in the East-Indian Archipelago 

 (English edition) 1897, with many pictures and maps, or the article 

 on climate" (in Dutch) in the Encyclopaedia. Volume II of the 

 Handbuch der Klimatologie by Dr. J. Hann gives an exhaustive review 

 of the subject. The Observatory at Weltevreden issues periodical reports 

 on the rain-fall in the archipelago ; also a treatise on the general clima- 

 tology of the Indies and environs by Dr. C. Braak is in preparation. J ) 



b. Before starting the objects (clothes etc.) that have to serve 



1) Two parts of the first volume (with English summaries) have been published. 

 Verhandelingen No. 8. Koninkl. Magn. en Meteorol. Observatorium, Batavia. 



