Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
very favourable conditions. The climate is either too hot or too cool, too moist or too dry,
for a large proportion of them, and they seldom get the exact quantity of shade or the right
quality of soil to suit them. In our stoves these varied conditions can be supplied to each in-
dividual plant far better than in a large garden, where the fact that the plants are most of
them growing in or near their native country is supposed to preclude the necessity of giving
them much individual attention. Still, however, there is much to admire here. There are av-
enues of stately palms, and clumps of bamboos of perhaps fifty different kinds; and an end-
less variety of tropical shrubs and trees with strange and beautiful foliage. As a change from
the excessive heats of Batavia, Buitenzorg is a delightful abode. It is just elevated enough to
have deliciously cool evenings and nights, but not so much as to require any change of
clothing; and to a person long resident in the hotter climate of the plains, the air is always
fresh and pleasant, and admits of walking at almost any hour of the day. The vicinity is most
picturesque and luxuriant, and the great volcano of Gunung-Salak, with its truncated and
jagged summit, forms a characteristic background to many of the landscapes. A great mud
eruption took place in 1699, since which date the mountain has been entirely inactive.
On leaving Buitenzorg, I had coolies to carry my baggage and a horse for myself, both to
be changed every six or seven miles. The road rose gradually, and after the first stage the
hills closed in a little on each side, forming a broad valley; and the temperature was so cool
and agreeable, and the country so interesting, that I preferred walking. Native villages im-
bedded in fruit trees, and pretty villas inhabited by planters or retired Dutch officials, gave
this district a very pleasing and civilized aspect; but what most attracted my attention was
the system of terrace-cultivation, which is here universally adopted, and which is, I should
think, hardly equalled in the world. The slopes of the main valley, and of its branches, were
everywhere cut in terraces up to a considerable height, and when they wound round the re-
cesses of the hills produced all the effect of magnificent amphitheatres. Hundreds of square
miles of country are thus terraced, and convey a striking idea of the industry of the people
and the antiquity of their civilization. These terraces are extended year by year as the popu-
lation increases, by the inhabitants of each village working in concert under the direction of
their chiefs; and it is perhaps by this system of village culture alone, that such extensive ter-
racing and irrigation has been rendered possible. It was probably introduced by the Brah-
mins from India, since in those Malay countries where there is no trace of a previous occu-
pation by a civilized people, the terrace system is unknown. I first saw this mode of cultiva-
tion in Bali and Lombock, and, as I shall have to describe it in some detail there (see
Chapter X), I need say no more about it in this place, except that, owing to the finer outlines
and greater luxuriance of the country in west Java, it produces there the most striking and
