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VOYAGE OF THE POTOMAC. 
[March, 
of Buitenzorg, we find an atmosphere that retains its freshness 
in the hottest season. Here the boldest features of nature are 
softened by the rural arts of man ; for the labours of the moun- 
tain farmer have clothed the scene with the variegated garb of 
enchantment. 
At Salatiga, in Semarang, the seventh division, and in many- 
other inland towns, the air is said to be sometimes uncomfortably 
cool, and ice as thick as window-glass has been seen in the 
mountains. At Weltervreden, a short distance east of Batavia, 
the thermometer is generally at 86° during the dry season, or 
southeast monsoon, which extends from April to October; and 
from 83° to 90° during the wet monsoon, from November to March. 
In the mountains about Chipanas, south of Buitenzorg, and only 
sixty miles from Batavia, the thermometer generally stands at 65°, 
sometimes, less, but seldom exceeding 70°. There is a constant 
succession of sea and laiidbreezes. The first prevail from ten 
in the morning until four or five in the afternoon, after which it is 
calm for two or three hours, when the landbreezes commence, 
and continue until near morning. The seabreezes are fresh and 
healthy ; but not so the landbreeze, when it comes over exten- 
sive marshes and swamps, of which there are many on the north 
side of the island. The most pleasant and healthy season is from 
May until October. 
The monsoons are not regular. Heavy rains do not set in, in 
some seasons, until December, in which case the heaviest are in 
the months of February and March, The wet season is naturally 
the period of germination, and the dry season that of fructifica- 
tion ; and wherever there is suflficient moisture, the sun is, at all 
times, powerful enough to quicken vegetable life. During the 
rainy season there are many days free from showers, when the 
mornings are generally clear, as during the dry season, the atmo- 
sphere is refreshed by occasional showers, and the landscape is, 
at all times, covered with the brightest verdure. From all that 
has been said on the subject of climate and health in the Island 
of Java, the general inference which has been drawn by profes- 
sional men is, that the country at large " stands on a level, in 
point of salubrity, with the healthiest parts of British India, or of 
any tropical country in the world." The term of life among the 
Hatives is nearly as long as it is in the United States. Many 
