i82 THE ISLAND OF JAVA. 
Europe : thus, thej have their Hay month, their Wine" month, 
their Floz^er month ; and, unluckily for their nomenclature, 
as used in this place, their Winter month happens when the sun 
is nearly vertical. Who would have suspected that the 
Brumaire, the Germinal, the Floreal, and almost the M^iole of 
the French republican calendar, were stolen from their Dutch 
friends, who have been in the constant use of it for cen- 
turies past ? It is doubtfid if the French will retain it so long, 
and whether, in their thirst for novelty, they may not pro- 
pose to compliment the present august family on the throne 
b}^ a transfer of their names to the calendar months, or, which 
would be more convenient for themselves and the rest of 
Europe, revert to the old ones which have stood the test of 
so many ages. 
It has been observed that metals and other valuable pro- 
ductions of the mineral kingdom are usually found in the 
greatest abundance under poor and barren soils. Admitting 
the converse of this observation to be true, the surface of the 
island of Java, covered with a fertile soil and clothed with a 
redundant vegetation, holds out little encouragement for the 
researches of the mineralogist. There are, it is true, high 
and naked mountains in the central parts of the island, 
whose summits are occasionally wrapt in snow, and some- 
times involved in the smoke of volcanic fires ; but little is 
known of their structure and materials. Various eruptions 
are said to have happened since the Dutch first settled on the 
island, and slight shocks of earthquakes have frequently 
been felt ; and in several places near the feet of the moun- 
tains are thermal springs, whose waters are impregnated with 
