24 
Ancient Javanese Remains. 
[No. 1, 
being square instead of round that is a trifle ! The plate on the 
table before you will show you that the Tibetan Buddhists do repre¬ 
sent mount Meru and its seven ridges as square . # 
The highest of the volcanic mountains of Java, rising to 12,234 
feet above the sea bears the name of Mem (Sumeru), as the local 
representative of the apex of the mythical world. 
Above the crowning dome the Dutch authorities have ereeted seats 
with a small roof to shade visitors, very welcome and useful, however 
incongruous. We were unfortunate in weather, but the view from 
the summit must in a clear atmosphere be quite unique. Casting 
your eyes beyond the grey and shattered domes which hold in durance 
the eternally meditative Buddhas at your feet, you overlook the 
whole valley of Kadu with its gentle slopes and terraces. Line be¬ 
hind line, in infinite perspective, lie the dense groves of cocoa-nut 
and fruit trees which alone indicate the sites of Javanese villages, 
the intervals being filled up by a garden-like tillage of rice, sugar, 
indigo, and a vast variety of other crops. Close behind rise the 
fantastic peaks and cliffs of the calcareous mountains of Menoreh 
whilst the panorama in front is framed in by the huge peaks of 
Sumbing and Sindoro, Mir-Babu and Mir-Api, respectively 11,021, 
10,321, 10,227 and 9,208 English feet in height above the sea. 
I will dwell no longer on Boro Bodor, but pass to Brambanan, to 
which I was unfortunately only able to give a part of a day. It lies 
close on the borders of the two states of Djokjokarta and Solo, about 
ten miles from the former capital and immediately south of the 
noble cone of Mir-Api. The remains here are very numerous and 
interesting, but I will notice only a few points. 
The first piece of antiquity that attracts the eye in travelling from 
Djokjo is a temple in a field close by the road, called by the people 
“ Chandi Kali Baneng ;”t Chandi being an Indian word which is 
still applied to all such Hindu remains in Java. This was a beauti¬ 
ful building, and exceedingly interesting to me from its strong re¬ 
semblance, both in plan and in the details of ornament, to some of 
the Burmese temples at Pagan.£ Like many of these, it w T as a square 
* See Musei Borgiani. Cosraogonia Indico-Thibetana &c., Romae 
MDCCXOIII. p. 231. No. 1466 in As. Soc. Library. 
t See Fig. 6. 
X See particularly in Mission to Ava the temple of Senphyokoo. PI. 
