X. THE STAY OF Mr. JOHANN HANDL ON KRAKATAO 

 FROM 1915 TILL 1917. 



In October 1916 Mr. Johann HandM) obtained from the 

 Dutch Indian Government a concession for winning volcanic products 

 on Krakatao. Having often visited the island after the eruption and 

 having ascertained that it contained an inexhaustable store of pumice, 

 Mr. H a n d I intended to use this material for the building of cheap 

 and hygienic houses, for which he meant to have discovered a 

 suitable process. The concession was granted for the eastern half 

 of the island and covered an area of 870 ha. (the entire island is 

 1400 ha.). As Mr. Handl for reasons which it is not necessary 

 to state here, was not able to effect his purpose and was in arrear 

 with the payment of the yearly retribution due to the Dutch Indian 

 Government, the concession was canceled in February 1921. In July 1919 

 the western half of the island had already been declared a Nature 

 Monument to which in January 1925 the eastern half was added. 



Partly from Mr. Handl himself and partly, through the medium 

 of Dr. O. Arrhenius, from his son, I obtained the following 

 information about Mr. H a n d I's prolonged stay on the island. 



Mr. Handl with some relations and his native servants, in total 

 4 European families and about 30 coolies, established themselves on 

 Krakatao towards the end of the year 1915; he himself stayed there 

 till the end of the year 1917. During his stay the communication 

 with Labuan (a small port on the western coast of Java) was kept 

 up by means of a motor-boat, which went there frequently, usually 

 once a week, in order to fetch the things necessary. On the south- 

 eastern side of the island, in the Casuar/'na-forest, he built a house, 

 the materials (wood and bamboo) for which were imported from Java. 

 It would not have been necessary to import wood as plenty of dead 

 trees were found washed ashore. So many trees were lying on the 

 beach that the little community could collect abundance of firewood; 

 nevertheless as a rule living trees were felled for fuel. Somewhat 

 north of the house a kind of harbour was made. Next to his 

 house Mr. Handl laid out a garden in which he cultivated i.a. 



! ) Mr. Handl was a German who had entered the service of the Dutch Indian 

 Government in 1874 and had left it in 1895. He died on August 1t 1927 at Depok 

 near Batavia. 



