176 JAVA. [chap. vii. 



terrace system is unknown. I first saw this mode of cul- 

 tivation in Bali and Lombock, and, as I shall have to 

 describe it in some detail there (see Chapter X.), I need 

 say no more about it in this place, except that, owing to 

 the finer outlines and greater luxuriance of the country 

 in West Java, it produces there the most striking and 

 picturesque effect. The lower slopes of the mountains in 

 Java possess such a delightful climate and luxuriant soil ; 

 living is so cheap and life and property are so secure, 

 that a considerable number of Europeans who have been 

 engaged in Government service, settle permanently in the 

 country instead of returning to Europe. They are scat- 

 tered everywhere throughout the more accessible parts of 

 the island, and tend greatly to the gradual improvement 

 of the native population, and to the continued peace and 

 prosperity of the whole country. 



Twenty miles beyond Buitenzorg the post road passes 

 over the Megamendong Mountain, at an elevation of about 

 4,500 feet. The country is finely mountainous, and there- 

 is much virgin forest still left upon the hills, together with 

 some of the oldest coffee-plantations in Java, where the 

 plants have attained almost the dimensions of forest trees. 

 About 500 feet below the summit level of the pass there 

 is a road-keeper's hut, half of which I hired for a fortnight, 

 as the country looked promising for making collections. 

 I almost immediately found that the productions of West 

 Java were remarkably different from those of the eastern 



