In Java, as in most Oriental countries, the traveller feels that he is moving in an atmosphere of antiquity, and though it has become a misnomer to refer to "The Unchanging East," it is borne in upon one that in the large group of islands comprised in the Philippine and Malay Archipelagoes, from Luzon in the north to Java in the south, from Samar in the east to Sumatra in the west, centuries of western contact has left but a slight impress upon the characters of the people. Changes there are, undoubtedly. Modern civilisation has advanced like a resistless wave and gradually engulfed an older civilisation, but here in Java one feels that the change has not been so decisive; and railways and canals and cultivation notwithstanding, the difference in general advancement between the Javanese and the Japanese is most marked, and even the Chinese, conservative though they are in most ways, have more character and look more hopeful soil for the reception and development of western ideas.
A solid foundation for the trip to Java may be laid by perusing Sir Stamford Raffles' history, the second edition of which, published in 1830, will be found in Raffles Library. It covers the whole period from the time the Portuguese arrived in the Farther East in 1510 to the British occupation. Making Malacca his headquarters, Albuquerque sent various expeditions to the surrounding islands, and Antonio de Abrew was his emissary to Java and the Moluccas. The Dutch appeared in 1595, obtaining their first footing in the East Indies at Bantam, the English East India Company establishing a factory at the same place in 1602.
Of the capture of Java by the British troops brief details have already been given.
An interesting account of "The Conquest of Java" is given by Captain William Thorn, a Dragoon officer, who served on the staff of one of the brigadiers. It was written in 1815 while he was on his way back to England, and is so plentifully illustrated with field maps as to add interest to one's visit to Batavia and Buitenzorg and the seaports of Samarang and Sourabaya.
We are indebted to Dr. Hanitsch, the Curator, for the following list of books on Java in Raffles Library:—
The Dutch in Java; 1904, by Clive Day.
Java, Facts and Fancies; 1905, by Augusta de Wit.
Facts and Fancies about Java; 1908, by Augusta de Wit.
Life in Java, 2 vols; 1864, by W. B. d'Almeida.
Voyage Round the World; 1870, by Marquis de Beauvoir.