Extensive forests of the játi, or teak of India[30], are found in almost all the eastern provinces; but the most valuable and important are in the central districts, situated inland, between Semárang and Sidáyu, and particularly in the districts of Blóra, Jípang, and Padáng'an.
Of the teak tree there is but one species known, the tectona grandis of Linnæus, the tekka of Van Rheede, and the jatus of Rhumphius. Its natural history has been already fully detailed, and all the kinds generally enumerated are merely varieties. These are usually distinguished among the natives of Java by names derived from the quality and colour of the wood. The principal are the játi kápur, the chalky teak, and a kind varying in colour, and on account of its excellence termed játi súng'gu, or the true teak. The former is the most common: its wood is of a whitish hue, and it sometimes contains calcareous concretions in nodules or streaks. This sort is chiefly employed for common domestic purposes, and though inferior in quality to many others, from its abundance and comparative cheapness, is perhaps the most generally useful. The játi súng'gu is harder, closer, and more ponderous, and particularly selected for ship-building. The colour of the wood is of different shades, from light to intense brown, with a cast of violet verging sometimes to red or black. If the stem is covered with spines, or rather pointed scales, it is called játi dúri, but in its texture and quality it agrees with the játi súnge'gu. Besides these the natives distinguish, as játi gémbol, those excrescences or protuberances which are produced from a variety of the játi, furnishing materials for handsome cabinet-work.
The teak tree on Java grows at a moderate elevation above the level of the ocean. It is generally conceived, that the timber afforded by forests growing on a soil of which the basis is limestone, and the surface uneven, gravelly, or rocky, is the hardest, the freest from chalky concretions, and in all respects the best; but in laying out a teak plantation, a soil consisting in a great proportion of black vegetable mould, is always selected for the purpose of obtaining a rapid growth. The teak tree is slender and erect. It shoots up with considerable vigour and rapidity, but its expansion is slow. Like all other trees affording useful timber of a close grain, it is many years in arriving at maturity. Under favourable circumstances, a growth of from twenty to twenty-five years affords a tree having about twelve inches diameter at the base. It requires at least a century to attain its perfection, but for common purposes, it is usually felled when between thirty and fifty years old[31].
Notwithstanding the extent to which cultivation has been carried in many districts of the island, large portions of its surface are still covered with primeval forests, affording excellent timber of various descriptions. Besides the teak, there are several kinds of wood or timber employed for various domestic purposes, as the súren (the tuna of Bengal), of which the wood is very light, stronger and more durable than all other kinds of similar weight produced on the island: as the grain is not fine, it is not employed in making furniture, but it is useful for chests, trunks, carriages, &c.; its colour is red, and its odour somewhat resembling that of the cedar. Its weight is probably inferior to that of the larch.—The wúngú or ketángi is often used instead of teak: the grain is somewhat finer: when in full blossom it is perhaps the most beautiful tree existing.—The wádang or báyur, a light and tolerably durable wood, is employed for masts and spars of small vessels; but the surface must be well covered with resinous substances to prevent its splitting.—The gintúngan is employed in the same manner, but grows to a larger size; the colour of the wood and bark is red.—The lampéan or lában is light but durable, and affords materials for the handles of the spears or pikes borne by the natives.—The nángka abounds in several districts where teak is not found, and is almost exclusively used in the construction of houses, and other domestic purposes: the wood is more close and ponderous than the súren, which it otherwise resembles; it takes a tolerable polish, and is sometimes employed for furniture. The colour is yellow; but it is made to receive a brownish hue, by the application of the young teak-leaves in polishing: its bark is used as a yellow dye.—The lúren resembles the nángka, but is generally of rare occurrence, though in some tracts it furnishes the only timber: its use in the neighbouring islands, particularly on Sumatra, is well known.—The kusámbi is uncommonly heavy, hard, and close: it supplies anchors for small vessels, blocks, pestles, and numerous similar utensils.—The sáwur is a very beautiful and useful wood; the colour resembles that of mahogany, but the grain is closer, and it is more ponderous: its chief use is for handles of tools for carpenters and other artificers, for machinery, especially for the teeth of the wheels of mills, and other purposes where a hard and durable wood is required. On account of its scarcity, it is uniformly cut down on Java before it arrives at the necessary size for cabinet-work. Forests of it grow on the hills of Báli, opposite the Javan shore, whence it is brought over by boat-loads for sale.
The pílang is a very hard wood, and employed in the eastern districts, instead of lignum-vitæ, for the construction of ships'-blocks, &c.—The pung is equally hard, and uniformly employed by the natives for pegs in constructing their prahus.—The wáli kúkun is equal to the kusámbi in weight, and exceeds it in hardness: it is employed for anchors, naves of wheels, machinery, &c.—The tang'gulun is a hard wood of a close grain, and employed by turners for various small works.—The kelúmpit is a very large tree: sections are employed by the natives for cart wheels.—The járan is a white wood taking the tool easily: the natives prefer it to all others for the construction of their saddles, which consist principally of wood.—The demólo affords a light wood, which is made into planks, and employed where durability is not much required.—The wood of the kedáwung is whitish and moderately hard.—The lában is a yellowish and hard wood: it is employed for the handles of axes and various utensils.—The jánglot is considered by the natives as the toughest wood produced in the island, and is always employed for bows when procurable: the tree is of a moderate size.—The béndo is a light wood, useful for canoes.—The séntul is a light close-grained wood, and easily worked: it resembles the súren.
For household furniture, cabinet-ware, &c. are employed—the sóno kling of the Maláyus, the colour of which is a deep brown, inclining to black:—the sóno kómbang, which has some resemblance to the lingua wood of the Moluccas:—the war'm-lot, dark brown; and próno-sodo, resembling the walnut, both scarce:—the wer'n, of a brown colour, of a close substance and light, abundant in some districts:—the mentáus and júmberit, the wood of which is white and fine-grained, uniformly used for inlaying:—the randu kúning, yellowish and close-grained:—and the íng'as, of a brownish red colour, and very brittle.
For the hilts and sheaths of krîses, the natives make use of the timóko, of which the black and white variegated fragments are called pélet. These are of various kinds.—The arúman, variegated white and black, is also employed for canes, handles, and spears, &c. and is very heavy.—The tiké, yellowish, closed and marble,—the mángu,—the áti áti,—the kráminan,—the púrwo-kúning and several others, are employed for the same purposes.—The kamúning is of a brownish colour and very fine grain:—the tayúman resembles the last and is very much esteemed:—the wúni stelágo affords a reddish wood.
Among the most extensively useful productions ought not to be forgotten the bámbu, or príng, which abounds on Java, and seems, from the greater luxuriance and variety by which it is here distinguished, to find the soil and climate more congenial to its growth than those of any other country. It blossoms in different parts of the island. The rattans (rótan) of Java are on the whole inferior to those of Sumatra and Borneo: the improved state of cultivation is unfavourable to their growth and propagation.
Many woods afford excellent fuel. The charcoal prepared from the kusámbi is equal perhaps to that of any other wood with which we are acquainted, and is universally preferred in cooking, and in the other branches of domestic economy. Charcoal, for gunpowder, is uniformly prepared from the celtis orientalis, called áng'grung.
Among the useful trees must be noticed: the soap-tree, of which the fruit is used to a very great extent in washing linen:—the kasémak, from the bark of which is made a varnish for umbrellas:—the sámpang, from the resin of which the natives prepare a shining varnish for the wooden sheaths of krîses:—the cotton-tree, from which a silky wool is obtained for stuffing pillows and beds:—the wax-tree, which, though scarce on Java, grows abundantly on some parts of Madúra: (the kernel, by expression, produces an oil, which some time after becomes hard and bears a resemblance to wax; it may be burnt in lamps or converted into candles, and affords an agreeable odour): the bendúd, a shrub producing the substance of which the elastic gum, commonly called Indian-rubber, is prepared. The art of preparing it in this form is however unknown in Java. Torches are made of it, for the use of those who search for birds' nests in the rocks, and it serves for winding round the stick employed to strike musical instruments, as the gong, &c. to soften the sound. The mínyak káwon or niátu is a very useful tree, which grows solitary in all, and abundantly in some parts of the island, and produces a kind of tallow.