FROM LONDON TO AUSTRALIA BY AEROPLANE 



325 



"That's the Equator,"' ejaculated my 

 brother, and, sure enough, by dead reck- 

 oning, we had bumped across the line 

 into the Southern Hemisphere. 



Our entrance into the Southern 

 Hemisphere was welcomed by improved 

 weather, but the landscape below — dense 

 jungle inland, fringed along the seashore 

 by belts of mangrove swamps and the 

 blue tropical sea — often kindled in my 

 mind thoughts of utter helplessness in 

 case of engine trouble. 



There developed in me a strange admi- 

 ration — almost reverence — for the super- 

 mechanism that hummed away rhythmic- 

 ally, that had now covered 10,000 miles 

 without an overhaul, and at the opposite 

 side of the globe was still singing a hymn 

 of praise to the makers, as it had done 

 when the bleak wintry snows had car- 

 peted the aerodrome at Hounslow and 

 northern France. How far away this 

 all seemed ! 



These were times, indeed, for musing, 

 as we sped along above this tranquil 

 tropical landscape, home only a few days 

 away — an achievement ! 



Numerous small islets — emeralds in a 

 setting of turquoise — passed below us. 

 There were yearnings to land and ex- 

 plore their mangrove-fringed bays and 

 foreshores, but the nearest landing was 

 our destination, Batavia. 



Soon the large island of Muntok came 

 below, and in the strait separating the 

 mainland we passed a vessel. Subse- 

 quently we learned she was equipped with 

 wireless and had transmitted news of 

 our arrival on to Batavia. 



I had originally intended to hug the 

 coast of Sumatra on to Java ; but as 

 it was all dense mangrove swamp, with 

 no sign of a possible landing-place, I 

 reasoned that we might just as well fly 

 over the sea. My brother computed the 

 compass course, and so we headed direct 

 for Batavia. 



THE LANDING AT KAEEDJAT 



The hazy contours of the mountains 

 marking the western end of Java soon 

 began to show up to starboard, and ahead 

 a scene of rare enchantment began to 

 resolve itself upon the bosom of the 

 tropical sea. 



The sea was a glorious mirror almost as 

 rippleless as the canopy above, and scat- 



tered broadcast lay a thousand isles, each 

 one beautiful, and all combined to make 

 one of the most beautiful sights I have 

 ever looked down upon. Many of the 

 islands are heavily grown with palms ex- 

 tending to the very water's edge ; others, 

 sparsely cultivated, fringed with a nar- 

 row ribbon of beach ; but around each is 

 a setting of an exquisite shade of green, 

 marking a sand-girt shallow ; then deep- 

 blue and depth. 



Myriads of tiny white fisher-sails passed 

 through the channels, gleaning their har- 

 vest from the sea. 



Reluctantly we turned from this glimpse 

 of fairy-land, and, bearing for the Gar- 

 den Island of the East, soon reached 

 Batavia, the city of canals and beautiful 

 avenues. 



Following the railway line, we landed 

 at the Dutch Flying School at Kaledjat. 

 The Dutch had sent an escort of four 

 machines to welcome us ; but, although 

 they passed within about 500 feet of the 

 Vimy, they missed us. 



The distance of 650 miles from Singa- 

 pore we had covered in just nine hours. 

 Hearty greeting was extended to us by 

 His Excellency Count Van Limburg 

 Stirum, the Governor-General of the 

 Netherlands Indies, and a large number 

 of leading officials. 



After a well-enjoyed meal, we set to 

 work on the machine. The petrol avail- 

 able was very heavy, and it took us eight 

 hours to filter 350 gallons through the 

 chamois leather strainer into the tanks. 

 xAs the next stage to Soerabaya was only 

 a short lap, we did not leave Kaledjat 

 before 7.30. 



THE BOUNTEOUS GARDEN OE JAVA 



With beautiful weather favoring us. 

 we sped rapidly over fertile tracts of this 

 amazing island, charmed by the unsur- 

 passable beauty that unfolded below. 

 Java impressed me as one vast bounteous 

 garden, amid which rise the immense, 

 shapely cones of volcanic mountains. 



Perhaps one of the most striking sights 

 was the "paddy" country. From our 

 height, the whole expanse of the land 

 appeared to be inundated by irrigation 

 water — all contained in miniature, cell- 

 like squares, that gave the effect of a 

 mighty srid, stretching away to the moun- 



