THE ISLAND OF JAVA. 183 
iron. Beyond these facts little if any thing is known to the 
Dutch. The soil of the island may generally be considered 
as pure vegetable mould, resting on clay, or argillaceous iroti 
stone, or coarse lime-stone of a loose and porous texture, the 
remains, perhaps, of coral rocks crumbled into amorphous 
masses by the all-destroying hand of time. The northern 
coast is almost wholly girt by coral fabrics. 
There are not, probably, many spots on the globe which, 
on the same space, can boast of so rich and varied a fund 
of vegetable productions as are to be found on the island of 
Java ; of trees so remarkable for the grandeur and elegance 
of their appearance, the beauty and fragrance of their 
flowers, and the richness and variety of their fruits. To 
enumerate the valuable articles it produces towards supply- 
ing the necessities, the conveniencies, and the luxuries ot 
mankind is a task for which I am not prepared, nor, if I 
Avere, would it be consistent with the plan of the present 
work, which professes only general description and observa- 
tion ; I shall mention, therefore, such only as are most re- 
makable for their beauty, utility, or some peculiar quality, 
in the neighbourhood of Batavia. 
Among the grand and. pumerous tribe of palms, the cocoa 
claims the first distinction. This tall and majestic tree, so 
abundantly spread over the low coasts of most of the Oriental 
islands, appears to be in Java of more luxuriant growth than 
I remember to have seen it elsewhere, towering sometimes to 
the astonishing height of 150 feet. I'he nut, Avhen young, 
contains a milky fluid, of which the natives are excessively 
