JAVA 
153 
carry a hat, even if he do not wear it. Under ordinary 
circumstances no head-covering is ever worn during 
the daily evening walk or drive. Balls are frequent, 
and the hospitality offered to the stranger in Java is on 
the most liberal scale. The ceremonial and state surround¬ 
ing the person of the Governor-General is as great as 
that attending our own Viceregal court in India, and some 
of the sultans have retinues and surroundings not less 
magnificent than those of our own native princes. 
Travel in Java has of late years been considerably 
simplified by the construction of an elaborate railway 
system, which serves chiefly the central and eastern parts 
of the island, placing Samarang, Surabaya, Surakarta, 
Jokjokarta, Chilatjap, and all the other large towns in 
communication with each other. Batavia is the starting- 
point of another system in the western portion of the 
island, which is very soon to connect with this at 
Chilatjap. At the beginning of 1890 there were 762 
miles of railway open to traffic, of which about half 
belongs to the State. There are also nearly 150 miles 
of steam tramway. The magnificent road system, which 
forms a network over the whole of Java, connecting all 
the principal towns, is very largely due to the initiative 
of Marshal Daendels, who at the beginning of this cen¬ 
tury constructed the great trunk road from end to end 
of the island, 800 miles in length. The law which 
compels every peasant to give a certain number of days’ 
work upon the roads, results in their being kept in ex¬ 
cellent condition, and the posting system which serves 
them is equally good, although extremely expensive. The 
post-houses are at short intervals along the main road, 
and the traveller may either get coolies or horses to 
carry him, day and night, at the rate of ten miles an 
hour. 
