116 



JAFJ. 



fCHAP. ¥11. 



and some young plantations of CinchoiiEL As there was now 

 a tliick mist and drizzling rain, I did nofc attempt to go on to 

 the summit that evening, but made two \'isit3 to it during 

 my stjiy, as well as one to the active crater of Gedek This 

 is a vast semicircular chasm, hounded by black perpendicular 

 walls of rock, and siirrouuded by miles of rugged scoria- 

 covered slopea* The crater itseK is not very deep. It 

 exhibits patches of sulphur and variously-coloured vol- 

 canic products, and emits from several vents continual 

 streams of smoke and vapour. The extinct cone of Pan- 

 gemngo was to me more interesting. The summit is an 

 iiT^ilar undulating plain with a low bordering ridge, and 

 cue deep lateral chasm. Unfortunately there was per- 

 petual mist and rain either above or below us all the 

 time I was on the mountain ; so that 1 never once saw the 

 plain below, or had a glimpse of the magnificent vif^w 

 which in fine weather is to be obtained from its siunmit. 

 Notwitlistandiiig this drawback I enjoyed the excursion 

 exceedingly, for it was the first time I had been high 

 enough on a mountain near the Equator to watch the 

 change from a tropical to a temperate fiora. I will now 

 briefly sketch these changes as I observed them in Java. 



On ascending the mountain, we first meet with tem- 

 perate forms of herbaceous plants^ so low as 3,000 feet, 

 where strawberries and violets begin to grow, but the 

 former are tasteless, and the latter have very small and 

 Dale flowers. Weedy Gompositse also begin to give a 

 Jltiiopean aspect to the wayside herbage. It is between 

 2,000 and 5,000 feet that the forests and ravines exhibit 

 the utmost development of tropical luxuriance and beauty. 

 The abundance of noble Tree-ferns, sometimes fifty feet 

 high, contributes greatly to the general effect, since of all 

 the forms of tropical vegetation they are certainly the most 

 striking and beautiful Some of the deep ravines which 

 have been cleared of large timber are full of thcni from 

 top to bottom ; and where the road crosses one of these 

 valleys, the view of their feathery crowns, in varied 

 positions above and below tlie eye^ ofl'ers a spectacle of 

 picturesque beauty never to be forgotten. The splendid 

 foHage of the broad-leaved Musacete and Zingiberacc®, 

 with their curious and brilliant flowers ; and the elegant and 



