The evening we spent at the residence of M. Van de Groote, inspector of the tin-mines of Banka and Borneo, who was of very great use to the geologist of the Expedition, and at whose hospitable house we met a number of personages of distinction.
On the following morning (14th May), before prosecuting our journey, we made an excursion to the neighbouring Batoetoelis (pronounced Batootoolis), as a number of trachytic rocks are called, to which young Javanese wives, who wish to become mothers, ascribe the most marvellous virtues. The inscriptions hewn on the stones have been deciphered by the German philologist, Dr. Friedrich. There is also shown a stone with a depression like a human foot, which tradition asserts to be the footstep of a native prophet, who is supposed to have stood thereon at a time when the mass was not yet solid and hardened. There evidently is some association of ideas similar to that of the Cingalese respecting Adam's Peak, but without the poetic colouring of the latter.
From Buitenzorg we went to Tjipannas,[46] a country-seat of the Governor-general, at the foot of Pangerango. The road from Buitenzorg to Tjipannas is part of the great post-road from Batavia to Surabaya, which just at this point
traverses the mountain pass of Mengamendoeng, 4925 feet high, an outlier of the Gedeh range. It passes at first through richly-cultivated properties, with splendid rice-crops, and a little further on through coffee plantations, after which comes uninhabited wilderness, when the road becomes so steep that a pair of buffalos are harnessed in front of the horses of each carriage. En route we visited at Pondok-Gedeh the beautiful property of the family of Van den Bosch, whose founder greatly distinguished himself in promoting the agricultural prosperity of the island, while Governor-general of the colony, 1830-33. In the extensive gardens here we saw several large species of Vanilla and Cactus (Nopal), the latter of which are devoted to the propagation and gathering of the diminutive cochineal insect, from which is procured such a valuable dye. In 1826, a pair of this very fecund insect were brought from Spain to Java, and at present[47] there are in Pondok-Gedeh alone 500,000 plants, from which between 10,000 and 20,000 pounds of cochineal are obtained annually, while other gardens of Nopal of equal size occur elsewhere throughout the island. We were also filled with astonishment at the variety and richness of the brushwood and forest trees, which the European is accustomed to see only as diminutive, tender specimens, the rare plants of a hot-house! Under the influence of a tropical climate, and a fruitful soil, the tea plant, the nutmeg, the cinnamon, the sugar-cane, the
coffee bean, and the indigo, all flourish in wildest profusion, and the various warehouses are as crammed with the splendid produce of these valuable colonial staples as our northern granaries are with the necessaries of subsistence in the shape of dried fruits.[48]
Quite close to Pondok-Gedeh, amid the majestic mountain scenery of Gadok, is the maison de Santé of Dr. Steenstra Toussaint, which enjoys a well-earned reputation under the management of Dr. Bernstein, a German physician and naturalist. Invalid residents of the coast, when recovering from climatic diseases, make a point of hurrying to this institution, in order to benefit by the keen, bracing mountain air. Dr. Bernstein is, as far as his professional engagements will admit, at once a zealous collector, and a skilful preparer, who has already made some very beautiful collections, and who, if he stay here any length of time, will be in a position to enrich considerably the museums of natural history in Europe, with numerous rare and valuable specimens.
Just at the summit of the pass of Megamendoeng (dark cloud), begin the Preanger Regencies. This pass moreover forms a boundary line between the Malay language, chiefly used for commercial transactions along the coast, and that of Sunda, the difference between which two idioms, as regards the uninformed stranger is only so far important, that in
asking a native for a light for his cigar, he must now say "Sono," instead of "Api," as hitherto, always supposing that he is a smoker, a qualification which rarely fails to appertain to the inhabitants of the Dutch East Indies.
Here, in a wooden building open on all sides, and commanding an exquisite panoramic view, we partook of a déjeuner à la fourchette, prepared quite in the European style, after which, amidst a drenching thunder-plump, we pursued our course to Tjipannas, which lies about 1000 feet below the level of the pass.
At every village we passed, the authorities, as is the custom of the country, provided us with an escort. Thus we almost constantly had some 20 or 30 persons riding behind our carriages. The poor people had indued themselves in their best apparel, and looked very pretty in their varied fantastic attire. Even the rain, which still continued to descend in torrents, did not prevent them from following us, in order to do justice to the requirements of Javanese etiquette. So too, every one whom we met on the road assumed a respectful attitude, resting on the knees in a half-kneeling position, and cowering down in the road with folded hands, till our vehicle had rolled by. All the villages we saw had a very neat, clean, cheerful appearance. The houses of the Javanese (with the exception of those of the native authorities) are as a rule built entirely of bamboo, part being of wicker-work, part of the cane placed either side by side, or above each other, the whole roofed in with palm-leaves, or