Tin: E: wn;nN AttctJlFKLAOo, 



149 



Physical Features,— Java k traversed throughout its whole 

 l"it^;h liv twrj mountain Taii|^e9 1 which in sonm places converge and 

 again separate, throwing off numerous spurs, which fall gently down 

 tu the ckm!, Unth an: thir'klv <et with abtuit forty-six volcanoes, 

 from GOOO to (WW 12,000 fcfit lii^li, twelve of which are atill active 

 Tilt loftiest is Sciueru (12,238 feet), but the largest crater fe that of 

 Tenger (6000 feet), which nub in size those of Japnn and Hawaii. 

 The high land* are almost everywhere intersected by lovely valleys 

 watered by torrents and perennial streams, and mostly overgrown 

 with a magnificent tropical vegetation. There is, however, a stni^uiar 

 absence* of lacustrine bmina, the only formations of this sort being a 

 fijiv small tiut .romantic, upland Ink*'* in the proving of ChmLin, 

 Pnsnrutau, and une or two other places. The Dauttn, or "lake," in 

 a pre-eminent sense, is now dry, like several others in dim -re: it part-' 

 of the inland 



Volcanoes. — Apart from the eretaecoiiH and more recent al In vial 

 d^'u-'iK the formation is essentially vulcanic, Java forming perhaps, 

 the most important section of the great igneous zone, which traverse* 

 ilui wJi'-'k- A r- -h i 41 ' Ui^ji.s from Sumatra to the Philippines. But of all 

 the larger islands it appears to he the poorest in uroful mineral?. 

 Conl or lignite occurs in small 14 pockets " in many parts both of 

 ■lava ami Madura, as well as in the neighbouring islets ; but all 

 attempt* liiivi- hithertn failed £■> utilise it to any great extent* A 

 variety of clays suitable for bricks, e;irt hen wore, and porcelain ; ttwjjo, 

 an udililr i-urtli. regarded a* a dulicaey hy tin- natives; gmul )ime-4ime 

 and marble, petroleum and sulphur, abound in many places, while 

 salt is obtained from the mud wells of Kudwn and Selo (Samarang), 

 and saltpetre from Sntyi in the tSrcsik district. 



Thermal wells also nlwund, aim the volcanoes yield at every eruption 

 large quantities of sulphur. The crater of Toshem, at the east end, 

 contains a lakelet one-fourth of a mile long strongly impregnated with 

 fulttlinric acid, whence flows a stream of a«id water so destructive to life 

 that no fish can live in the sea near its mouth. The widespread myth of 

 <h«- deadly " «|-iM 1»«r " t.viL'iruiO i| pmbiiUy with tha cxtiuct voleaao fii 

 Guovo Upas (**Vsle of Poison 1 '), in the Batar district, whoso crater, 

 about half a mile round, is justly held in horror 'by the natives. All 

 living tilings approaching it drop down dead, and the ground is strewn 

 all round with the remains of deer, birds, and even mi-n, killed hy ih« 

 . :i \ I ii *tj i i ' rn-id g;i* i • !!.: '!■- i "lc !i.r;.n ••)' ^ ! ■ • - i ! I«y. Ti.v imi-l vr ( [,' m ,-.i 

 of the low-lying foobogan district in Yapara yield a considerable luppfa 

 of tins muriate of soda useful for culinary purin^c-*. En ih*.< iioij.dilh.jurhcn.id 

 of the Bromu (Tengger) volcano the firo used for cooking ik always taken 

 from the incandescent matter ejected by that venerated tnauni.iin during 

 eruptions. This fire is religiously preserved for years, and whenever it 



