caAP. tilJ 



FERTILITT OF SOIL 



99 



thousand feet liigli. Some of these are in constant activity 

 and one or otlier of them displays ahnosfc eveiy pheno- 

 nienon produced by the action of subternuiean fires, except 

 reguhir lav.a streams, which never occur in Java. TW 

 abundant moisture and tropical heat of the climate causes 

 these mountains to be clothed with luxuriant vegetation, 

 often to their very summits, while foi'ests and plantfi- 

 tiona cover their lower slopes. The animal productions, 

 esi>eciallY the birds and insects, are beautiful and vai'ied, 

 and present many peculiar forms ftjuiid nowhere eke 

 upon the globe. Tlie soil througliout the island is ex- 

 (jeedingly fertile, aud all the productions of the tropics, 

 together with many of the temperate zones, can be easily 

 cultivated, Java too [assesses a civilization, a history ami 

 antiquities of it.s own, of gr^ut interest. The Ihulnninical 

 religion Hourished in it from an epoch of unknown 

 antiquity till uhnut tlie year 1478, when that of Mahomet 

 supei'seded it. Tlie lorraer religion was accompanied by a 

 civilization which has not been equalled by the con- 

 querors ; for, scattered tlirough the country, espeoially in 

 the eastern part of it, are foimd buried iu lo% forests, 

 temples, tombs, and statues of gi'eat beauty and gi-amieur ; 

 aud the remains of extensive cities, where the tiger, the 

 rhinoceros, and the wild buU now roam imdisturbed. 

 A modern civilization of another type ia now spreading 

 <»ver the land. Good roads run through the countiy from 

 ojid to end ; Euitipean and native rnlers work har- 

 moniously together; and life and property are as w^ell 

 secured as in tlie best governed states of Europe. I 

 lielieve, therefore, that Java may fairly claim to be the 

 liuest tropical island in the world, and equally interesting 

 to the tourist seeking after new and beautiful scenes; to 

 the naturalist who desires to examine the variety and 

 beauty of tropical nature; or to the moralist and the 

 politician who want to solve the proldem of how man may 

 be best governed under new and varied conditions. 



The Dutch mail steamer brought me from Ternate to 

 Sourabaya, the chief town and port in the eastern part of 

 Java, and after a fortnight spent in packing up and sending 

 off my last collections, I started on a short journey, into- 



