TOPOaEAPHT OF JAVA. 191 



only tile fifth, place amongst the Javanese cities ; but it has preserved its national 

 character far better than Surakarta, or any other town subject to European or 

 Chinese influences. Jokjokarta, which in the last century bore the famous name 

 of Mataram, lies at the southern foot of Merapi, fifteen miles in a straight line 

 from the south coast. Like Surakarta, it groups its various quarters round about 

 a central kraton, covering nearly a square mile in extent, and occupied by the 

 Sultan and his numerous household. A few ruins of Hindu temples are scattered 

 over the surrounding district, and on a hill to the south-east stands the highly- 

 venerated necropolis of the Mataram princes. 



Although lying so near the coast, Jokjokarta has no port, and the projected 

 barbour on the nearest creek {Manjiengan) has not yet been constructed. Mean- 

 while the least remote port is that of PatjUan, which is formed by an indentation 

 of the rock-bound coast, to the east of the " Thousand Hills." But this place com- 

 municates with the inland towns only by means of rugged paths traversing a thinly 

 peopled territory'. The district, however, contains rich deposits of fine marbles. 



The elegant Sivaite temple of Brambanan, situated to the north-east of Jokjok- 

 arta, was the first discovered by the Dutch exjDlorers. It w^as brought to light in 

 1797 by some engineers who found it buried beneath a mass of dense vegetation. 



Madiun, capital of the province of like name, lies like Surakarta in the Solo 

 basin on the banks of the Madiun, a navigable affluent of that great water-course. 

 Ngam, standing near the confluence, was formerly a vitally important strategical 

 station on the frontier of the regencies, and is still a busy market. Bojonegoro, on 

 the Solo, about tbe head of its delta, is also a considerable trading place, forward- 

 ing most of the supplies for the maritime city of Tiihan, one of the most frequented 

 ports on this coast. Although merely the chief town of a district, Tuban is a 

 larger place than Remhang, capital of the province, which lies farther west on a 

 bay bounded by the two volcanic headlands of Murio and Lasem. 



Surabai/a, metropolis of east Java, and for a time capital of the whole of Indon- 

 esia, is one of the great marts and the chief naval arsenal in the island. As a sea- 

 port it has taken the place of its northern neighbour, Gresik or Grinee, an old Arab 

 settlement, whence Islam was propagated throughout the interior, and which 

 became the residence of a powerful theocratic dynasty. The city of Surabaya 

 proper stands on the left bank of the Brantas, its site having been gradually 

 created by the deposits of this stream, whicb compelled the sea to retire some miles 

 to the north. Here the strait of Trechter, separating Java from Madura, has 

 preserved sufficient depth and width to give large vessels access to this perfectly 

 sheltered and commodious roadstead. Certain quarters of Surabaya, intersected 

 by canals in all directions, present the aspect of a Dutch town. But the com- 

 mercial parts are encircled by the palm-groves of the native kampongs, while the 

 European suburban villas of Simpang are embowered in dense tropical foliage. 

 The ancient tombs still standing in a neighbouring suburb recall the arrival of 

 the " Legendary People," that is, the Hindus. To them the local tradition refers 

 the foundation of the great Mojo-Pahit empire, a Brahman State, which the 

 Mohammedans at last overthrew in the second half of the fifteenth centurv. 



