160 



AUSTEALASIA. 



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The Arjuno chain is connected by a ridge scarcely 1,G50 feet high with 

 another igneous group, comprising the Tengger and Semeru volcanoes The 

 former has the largest crater in Java, while the latter, to the south of it, is the 

 highest peak in the island (12,100 feet). From its crater was discharged in 1885 

 a lava stream estimated at over 10,000,000 cubic feet, the first of the kind recorded 



in Java, where till recently 



Fig. 63.— Tenggee and Semeeu. the volcanoes were supposed 



Scale 1 : 300,000. to ejcct no moltcn matter, 



but only solid substances, 

 such as ashes and stones. 

 Semeru takes its name 

 from the Indian Meru, the 

 holy mountain at all times 

 venerated by the Hindus and 

 Tibetans. Tengger (9,000 

 feet) is of extremely regular 

 form, and from its summit 

 are emitted at short intervals 

 columns of vapour and scoriae, 

 black by day, red at night. 

 It was formerl}^ probably as 

 high as Semeru ; but of the 

 upper part all has disappeared 

 except the outer w'alls, which 

 form a vast enclosure about 

 15 miles in circviit, here and 

 there interrupted by gaps 

 and breaches and rising in 

 some places 1,650 feet above 

 the inner plain. This level 

 plain, which was formerly the 

 crater, and which has a mean 

 altitude of over 6,500 feet, 

 1)ears the name of Dasar, or 

 " Sea of Sand," mostly con- 

 sisting of the finest dust, 

 movable in dry weather, but 

 changed by the rains to the 

 consistency of clay. From the centre rise a few sandy hills, one of which, the Bromo, 

 still constantly ejects smoke, and has at times been the scene of tremendous oat- 

 bursts. Its crater is alternately flooded by a small lake and filled by a mass of 

 molten lava. The term Bromo is merely a corruption of Brahma. The last Javanese 

 who professed the Hindu religion took refuge on the slopes of Tengger, and their 

 descendants still celebrate feasts in honour of the Devo-Bromo, or "God Brahma." 



G Miles. 



