IN JAVA, 



53 



inyasioQ of Jma^ has attained a wonderful developntcnt 

 tlirougliout tlie whole of the lowluuds in the western part of 

 the island. In these sawuhs, as the natives call their wet rioe 

 fiehU, the grain is cultivated in small square borders separated 

 by green, grass-ridged banks, kept constantly flooded with 

 water brought by h woudert'iil network ehaiiiiuls in wbieb 

 an intrimto system ol' sluices or valves distributes or cuts 

 oft' its flow wherever desired. The entire face of such low 

 hills as have a gentle slojie, are thus laid out down to their 

 bases, and at the setison when the yoniig corn is in its fresh 

 green leaf the country is extremely pretty. 



Mr. Fniser's estatedionse at Tjikantli-U<lik, which I reached 

 late in the evening, I t'uund to stand amid a ricli and entirely 

 cultivated country, but as regards my pursuits a barren terri- 

 tory. After enjoying for a few days the hospitality of tho 

 Administmtor 1 moved south-westward to Genteng in the 

 higher region of Lebak, where I wtis told some forest was then 

 being felled. 



Here I butit a bambuo-hut in an open spot with an exhila- 

 rating look-out on the high mountains, and alone with my 

 Mahiy boys began my initiation into tho language of tbe 

 country, and into the nomadic joyous life of a tield natnraJist, 

 It is a life full of tiresome shifts, discomforts, and sliort 

 commons; but these ar*j completely forgotten, and the days 

 seem never long enough amid that constant flush of delighted 

 surprise that accompanies the beholding for the first time 

 of beaat or bird or thing unknown before, aud the throb of 

 pleasure experienced, us each new morsel of knowledge amal- 

 giunutes with one's self. 



Between myself and my boys for a time the most ludicrously 

 comprehended sign-language was carried on, till their speech, 

 whose sentences to my unaccustomed ears seemed composed of 

 but one continuous word of innfimerahle uncouth syllables, 

 began to shape itself into distingnishablo elements, when to 

 my amazement, as if some obstruction bail been suddenly re- 

 moved from my ears, I eomprehended them as if I had been 

 brought np among them. Before many weeks were over I 

 could converse in Jie Malay tongue with an amount of freedom 

 that surprised mu. 



The language of the district, that is*, ttC the ^undanese them- 



