ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY. 23 



prospect. The country before us was gently undu- 

 lating, and covered with long waving grass, inter- 

 spersed with patches of wood. It looked like a 

 large wide-spread park, till at some miles distance 

 it rose up the slopes of the Lamongan. On the 

 sides of this the woods became thicker and more 

 continuous, till they reached the bare piles of ashes 

 and cinders forming the upper cone of the mountain. 

 On our right the country was more abruptly broken 

 into lower wooded hills, over which rose the dark 

 continuous masses of the Teng'ger. Behind us lay 

 the flat land of the coast, partially laid out in cul- 

 tivated fields, with a belt of wood, chiefly cocoa-nuts, 

 along the shore, over which we could see the sea 

 and the island of Madura. It was in the midst of the 

 lovely scenery that lies round the foot of the moun- 

 tains that we reached the second post-house, where 

 we found a relay of horses and attendants awaiting us. 



An occasional cutting or bank by the roadside 

 shewed me somewhat of the nature of the rock be- 

 neath. It seemed to consist principally of beds of 

 loosely compacted dark volcanic sand or ashes, 

 pretty regularly laminated and stratified. I could see 

 no lava, nor indeed stone of any kind, and the whole, 

 to a depth of eight or ten feet, might be taken for 

 vegetable soil. 



The road, although not so good as the main line, 

 was a very fair one, even for wheel carriages, a few 

 rough places occurring at intervals, where the ruts 

 made during the rains still remained. It was broad, 



