1832.] 
ISLAND OF JAVA. 
317 
neither loves the mountain nor the vale, but grows at a moderate 
elevation above the level of the ocean. 
There are several other kinds of timber-trees employed for 
various domestic purposes, many of which bear beautiful flowers 
of delicious fragrance. There are some resembling our red 
cedar, pitch-pine, white-wood, larch, hickory, ash, &c. There are 
others which resemble rose-wood and satin-wood. There are 
several which furnish excellent masts and spars for shipping. The 
kusambi is heavy, hard, and close, and is suitable for vessels' 
blocks, pestles, &c. The sawur resembles mahogany, but has a 
closer grain. The pilang is another very hard wood, and is em- 
ployed instead of lignumvitse. The pung, equally hard, is used 
by builders for pegs, pins, and treenails. The janglot is considered 
by the natives as the toughest wood produced in the island, and 
is always employed for bows when procurable. In short, Java 
produces wood of nearly every texture, weight, and colour, and 
suitable for all purposes. There are but few resinous trees in 
Java, and the camphire-tree, which abounds in Sumatra, is here 
unknown. The bamboo, or bambu, or pring, found in all tropical 
countries, grows here in great abundance ; and from the greater 
luxuriance and variety by which it is here distinguished, no doubt 
finds a soil peculiarly congenial to its growth. The rattans are 
said to be inferior to those of Sumatra. 
Besides the trees already alluded to, we would name the palm 
of numerous kinds, the mimosa of many varieties, the bread- 
fruit, the aren, the plantain, and the soap-tree. The fruit of the 
latter is used to a great extent in washing. The kasemak, which 
produces a varnish for umbrellas ; the sampang, from the resin of 
which the natives also make a transparent varnish ; the bombax, 
or cotton-tree, which bears a long pod, containing a silky substance, 
which is much used in stuffing pillows, mattresses, cushions, otto- 
mans, &c. The wax-tree produces an oil resembhng wax, which 
may be either burned in lamps, or converted into candles, as it be- 
comes hard by age. The bendud is a shrub, and produces the 
substance of which the elastic gum is made, commonly called 
India-rubber; the art of preparing it, however, is unknown in 
Java. It makes excellent torches, and is used in that way by 
those who explore caverns to hunt for edible birds'-nests. The 
tallow-tree grows abundantly in some parts of the island. There 
