The Health Resort of East Java.
Tosari on the Teng'ger mountains was the goal of our travels. We were anxious to escape from the heat of the plains, for the sun had now crossed the Equator, Java was in its summer season and the rains might come any day. From Djocjakarta, we should have arrived in Sourabaya in time for riz-tafel, but the wash-out at Moentilan still caused a delay of traffic and we were two hours late in reaching our destination.
Sourabaya is the most important port and business centre of Java, but this fact notwithstanding many of the foreign business houses still maintain their headquarters in Batavia. As a place of residence, each has its good points, and those who have lived in both are divided in preference. Possibly we were not in either long enough to form a lasting opinion, but we stayed so long in Sourabaya that we prefer Batavia. It would be sheer ingratitude, however, not to acknowledge the hearty welcome we received from the British colony in Sourabaya, and the personal help of members of that community. Here where the principal business of Java is conducted, as elsewhere throughout the Far East, it was satisfying to one's patriotism to see the respect in which British commercial enterprise and integrity is held by native and European alike, and that the most cordial good feeling exists on all sides.
To reach Tosari, the visitor proceeds first of all by train to Pasoeroean, leaving Sourabaya (Goebeng Station) at 6.42 a.m., and reaching Pasoeroean at 8.23. Here a single-pony carriage is engaged (two and a-half guilders) as far as Pasrepan, where a change is made to a two-pony carriage (three guilders). This conveyance takes one to Poespo, 2,600 feet above sea-level. A halt is made for tiffin in this delightful little hotel, whose pleasant looking proprietress, unfortunately, does not speak English. The remainder of the journey to the Sanatorium (6,000 feet) is made in the saddle or by sedan chair. Of this ride and a subsequent excursion we have painful recollections, but anyone accustomed to the saddle will enjoy this ascent through mountain scenery and vegetation, and even more the morning trip down to Poespo, through the forest, when returning to Sourabaya.
Tosari has been described as the Darjeeling of the Netherland Indies.
Here within four days' journey from Singapore, one may obtain a complete change of climate, and if there were only more frequent direct steamer communication between Singapore and Sourabaya, we predict with confidence that Tosari would become a favourite health resort for those who live on the northern side of the Equator. The rooms are comfortable, the food is good, the facilities for amusements at nightfall are ample, the walks and excursions are inexhaustible and the views are magnificent. The tariff (seven guilders per day—$4.90 in Singapore currency) is higher than that of any other hotel in Java, but those who intend to stay for a fortnight or more could probably arrange more favourable terms.
There is a resident doctor who has graduated in the Schools of Tropical Medicine, and when we were in Tosari there were visitors from Burma, Siam, Singapore, Penang, and all parts of Java, recruiting from malaria and other ailments peculiar to Far Eastern residence. But they were not all invalids, and formed a bright, companionable party.
The Teng'gerese who people this mountainous region are a race apart. Their religion is a mixture of paganism and Buddhism, and, though reputed to be kind and honest, they are an ignorant, uncouth, uncultured people. They dwell en famille in large square houses without windows, in isolated kampongs on the projecting ridges of the mountains. The door of each house is on the side nearest the Bromo crater, and as if tradition gave them cause to fear another destructive eruption they worship this volcano. Dirt prevails everywhere, and in consequence of the cool climate and the scarcity of water they seldom bathe, a fact that is very noticeable after one's acquaintance with the people of the plains.
To go to Tosari without seeing the Bromo is tantamount to going to Rome without entering St. Peter's. The journey is made on pony or in a sedan chair, by way of the Moengal Pass and the Dasar or Sand Sea, which is in reality the enormous Teng'ger crater, inside of which there are three more craters, the Bromo being the only one showing signs of activity.
A better view and more impressive is obtained from the Penandjaan Pass, a description of which is given in the next chapter.
Another trip worth making is to the lakes in the saddle-back mountain between the Teng'ger and the Seméroe. From this high plateau, the ascent of the Seméroe or Mahameroe is fairly easy and will prove attractive to those who are fond of mountaineering. It is the highest volcano in Java and has a perfect cone. The crater, from which smoke and ashes are constantly ejected, is not on the summit but is formed on the south-east side.
The visitor who does not wish to retrace his steps to Poespo and Pasrepan may return to the plains by way of Malang or Lawang through beautiful sub-tropical and tropical mountain scenery.