SAMARANG. 



49 



river. Tbis canal is finuly walled in, as at Batavia. 

 From the landing-place to tlie city proper tlie road 

 was a stream of mud, and tbe houses are small and 

 occupied only by Malays and the poorer classes of 

 Chinese In such streets two coolies are occasionally 

 seen carrying one of the native belles in a tandu. 

 The city itself is more compact than Batavia, and the 

 shops are remarkably fine. It was pleasant to look 

 again on some of the same engravings ex]?o8ed for 

 saJe in our oym shops. The finest builtling in the 

 city, and the best of the kind that I have seen in the 

 East, is a large one containing the custom and other 

 bureaus. It is two stories high, and occupies three 

 sides of a rectangle. I was told that they were 

 fifteen years in building it, though in om* cotmtry a 

 private finu would have put it up in half as many 

 months. There are several very fine hotels, and I 

 saw one most richly fiu'nished. Near the river stands 

 a high watch-tower, where a constant lookout is kept 

 for all ships approaching the road. From its top a 

 wide view is obtained over the anchorage, the low- 

 lands, and the city. Toward the interior rich fields 

 are seen stretching away to the province of Kedu, 

 the garden of Java " A raiboad has been begun 

 here, which wiU extend to Surakarta and Jokyo- 

 karta, on the east side of Mount Merapi, and wiU 

 open this rich region more fiilly to the world * 



The church of the city, which is chiefly sustained 



* The population of the Homdency of Bamflrang, which inclutlea the 

 city, is 1,020,275. Of these 5,162 are Europeans, 1,001,253 are natives, 

 11,441 are Chinese, 438 arc Arabs, and 1,982 are from other Eastern 

 nations. In these figares the military are not included, 

 4 



