80 THE WORLD OF LIFE 



that no mistake had been made. I was further satisfied of 

 this bj referring to a small volume by M. Jean Massart, en- 

 titled Un Botaniste en Malaisie. He there describes the 

 ^' mountain reserA'e " on Pangerango as being 300 hectares of 

 virgin forest, extending from the limits of cultivation to near 

 the summit. As '' 300 hectares " is the same area as '' 3 

 square kilometres/' there can be no doubt as to the figures 

 given. M. Massart also states that Dr. Koorders was head 

 of the " forest-fiora " department of the Buitenzorg Botanical 

 Gardens, and that he had established eighteen other reserves 

 in various regions of Java. Each of these reserves is under 

 a native superintendent, who allows no tree to be cut down 

 without orders, and watches for the flowering and fruiting of 

 every species of tree. One specimen at least of all the species 

 is numbered, and paths made and kept in order, so that they 

 can be easily visited, and the flowers or fruit gathered for the 

 herbarium. Dr. Koorders has now obtained specimens of 

 about 1200 trees indigenous to Java, while 3500 specimens 

 have been numbered in the reserves. This number is without 

 counting either shrubs or climbers. 



I give here a reproduction of a charming little photo- 

 graph taken in West Java more than fifty years ago by my 

 friend, the late Walter Woodbury, and I believe in the south- 

 ern country not very far from the island which Dr. Koorders 

 found so rich (Fig. 8). The intermingling of dwarf palms 

 and ferns, with the varied foliage of shrubs and herbaceous 

 plants, and the abundance of lianas hanging everywhere from 

 the trees overhead, give an impression of tropical luxuriance 

 beyond even that of the Malayan photographs pp. 48 and 49. 



The system of small forest reserves in tropical or other im- 



species of trees in IJ square mile, so that each species would be represented 

 on the average by 60 individuals. But, as some are comparatively common, 

 others rare, there would in some cases be only 3 or 4 specimens, while many, 

 having from 50 to 100, would be really abundant, but, if fairly scattered 

 over the whole area, even these might require searching for to find two or 

 three specimens; which accords with the facts as testified by all botanical 

 travellers. 



