52 



A NATUnALISrs WANDERINGS 



lliiii^T^kiis-bctong, by the famous highway which Daiukla, one 

 of tlif most ener Odette and far-SfiRing of all the early Ooveniors- 

 Generai of the Dutch Indies, coustrut^tetl along tho whole 

 length of the islantl, and which has proved one of its greatest 

 benelits and colrmizers. To expedite the journeys of thpir 

 various ofiicials round their districts, at every five or six miles 

 stable stations have been erected by the Government, where 

 horses are changed, and wliieh private travellers can obhiin 

 permission to make use of on payment of small mileage dues. 



All along the road we passed little sign-posts with Arabic 

 inscriptions indicating how many yards of the road on each side 

 of them must be kept in repair by the various neighbouring 

 villages. As the keeping of the roads is most strenuously 

 enforced, they are never out of condition, and are a pleasure to 

 drive over* Here and there it hm been impossible to bridge 

 the larger rivers in steep defiles where the stream is deep and 

 swift, and these are crossed in large pieturesque rafts which 

 can accommodate horse and carriage and quite a little crowd 

 of people at once. These rafts, by sliding t»n rattan rings 

 along two strong cables of thick rattan canes securely fixed to 

 both banks, are floated over by the ferrymen by hand-over- 

 hand traction on these cables. 



When on the road the dress of the Sundanese, especially of 

 the women and children, is invariably bright coluured ralicoes^ 

 clean and newly ironed, and their head-covering is the gaily 

 lacquered bamlxKt hats for whose manufacture they are famous. 

 The burdens of the men, whatever they may ronsist of, are 

 made up in neat and tastefully arranged lamdlcs, carried 

 al w ays on the shoulders, suspended at the ends of a bamlwo — 

 and it is amazing what a weight these thick-set stout fellows 

 can carry in this way. Such a ferry, in the sunlight, with a 

 background of green, wooded slopes, presents therefore always 

 a gay scene and forms quite an interesting break in the drive. 



The country throughtmt was rather tame, being quite stripped 

 of forest, but full of interest, as the land, being entirely under 

 rice cultivation, was laid uivt in the most beautiful system of 

 terraces. The province of Bantam is densely populated, and 

 scarcely a portion of uncultivated land wpj to be observed. 

 As Mr. Wallace in his * Malay Archii>clago,* has fully 

 describerl, this method, introduced by the Hindus on their 



