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COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL 
are of little value except for irrigation. Much detritus 
is brought clown by them in the rainy season, and from 
this and other causes their bars are silting up and the 
neighbouring land is encroaching upon the sea to the 
extent of over 21 feet annually. In like manner the 
Surabaya Strait has been filling up for years, and although 
much was gained in 1854 by the diversion of one branch 
of the Solo into a new channel, it is doubtful how long 
the improved condition of affairs will last, and steps are 
already being taken to prevent the closing of the 
harbour which again threatens. 
The valleys of Java, like its streams, are innumerable, 
but there are few inland plains of any extent. The 
physical conditions of the country are not favourable to 
their existence, and the same may be said concerning 
lakes, of which there are none worthy of particular 
mention. The most important plain, perhaps, is that of 
Surakarta. Of the valleys, in point of beauty, the palm 
must be yielded to Kaclu, dominated as it is by the 
magnificent volcanoes Merbabu and Merapi on the one 
side, and Sumbing and Sundara on the other. 
4. Climate and Meteorology. 
The climate of Java is on the whole hot and uniform, 
as might be expected from its geographical position, but 
its elevated plains and plateaux, from 1000 to 5000 
feet above the sea, afford a variety of climates, some of 
which are as near perfection as any that can be found. 
The wet season is from October to March, when the 
north-west monsoon blows, and the so-called dry season 
from April to the end of September, during the prevalence 
of the south-east winds; but, as in all countries near the 
