TOUR FROM SOUftABAYA, THROUGH KEDIRI, &C. 201 
Podjok near the 97th Paul you reach the district of Rowo. 
Several streams cross the road in their way from the Klut to 
the main river, and would no doubt afford a ready means ot 
forming rich sawahs, were there sufficient population to clear 
the jungle and profit from the fruitful soil. 
A little beyond the 109th paul we came out upon the main 
river, with a bridge over it. The road which we had passed, 
for some distance had been running in a straight line, and is 
now continued over the bridge in the same straight line, as 
far as the eye could reach, and appears to fade away in the 
distant vista of dadap trees, which still indicate the presence 
of coffee gardens. Four pauls beyond the bridge is Tulung 
Agung, the station of an Assistant Resident, who has charge 
of the southern portion of the Residence, consisting of the 
Regencies of Ngrowo and Frengalek. The bridge over the 
river is a remarkable one and deserving of notice.. It is what 
is called an American Bridge, so called from its invention in 
the United States. It is entirely composed of small timber, 
the largest beams, being only about 8 or 10 inches square, are 
those on which the carriage way is laid, and which are fixed 
into the frame work of the sides. Each of these is a trellis 
work of double planking set diagonally and securely bolted at 
the places of intersection. The sides are of equal height, 
about 10 feet, along the whole length of the bridge, and are 
connected by a roof which preserves the materials from the 
weather. The bridge rests, at each end, on stone abuttments 
built up on either bank, and spans the river with one unbro¬ 
ken mass of frame-work, which though to appearance light 
and frail, still from the nature of its construction, is calcula¬ 
ted to afford a great resistance from the manner in which the 
pressure is divided. The bridge is 46 paces long by 5| broad 
or say 128 feet by 15f; seen end way from the road, it looks 
like a tunnel or huge trellised packing case, with both ends 
out. The date of 1843 inscribed over either end tells when 
it was built. The carriage way is as level as a table, and of 
the same height as the high roads which it serves to unite. 
Near the northern abuttment on the up-per side it has sank 
a very trifle from the true level, but this is not perceptible 
without examining the bridge sideways. The young man who 
constructed this bridge belonged to the civil engineer depart¬ 
ment of Java; it was however his fate not long to survive 
the completion of the work, andhe has long since passed to other 
scenes. His name was Hein, and it ought to be engraved on 
the bridge, with the date. The river is here found coming 
from the E, S. E. and is thus running in a direction different 
