cX
THACKER & Co., Ld., BOMBAY,
FROM
JUNGLE
TO
JAVA.
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FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
THE TRIVIAL IMPRESSIONS OF A
SHORT EXCURSION TO NETHERLANDS INDIA.
OUR CRUISE IN NEW GUINEA," "Cux BY THE MESS,"
" AN EXILE'S ROMANCE," ETC., ETC.
THE
ROXBURGHE PRESS,
LIMITED,
FIFTEEN, VICTORIA STREET,
WESTMINSTER.
DS
KLlf^
CONTENTS.
I. A SELECT COMMUNITY i
II. THE START 7
III. SINGAPORE 14
IV. ON THE WAY TO JAVA ig
V. BATAVIA 23
VI. AN OFFICIAL CALL 34
VII. A CONCERT AT THE CONCORDIA CLUB 39
VIII. CONCERNING THE LOMBOH WAR ... 44
IX. BUITENZORG ... 49
X. CUSTOMS AND COSTUMES 56
XI. AN UNTIMELY CALL 62
XII. A MODEL ESTATE 66
XIII. AMONG THE ROSES 76
XIV. GARVET 84
XV. BATHS AND VOLCANOES 89
XVI. THE QUEST FOR A MOTHER 94
XVII. THE QUEST CONTINUED. TJILATJAP 99
XVIII. THE QUEST SUCCESSFUL. THE
WODENA'S HOUSE 109
XIX. A VILLAGE HOME IN JAVA 115
XX. BACK TO THE JUNGLE 120
^. f ~
'
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
CHAPTER I.
A SELECT COMMUNITY.
MR. X., whose impressions and mild adventures I
have undertaken the task of editing, has asked
me to narrow his personal introduction to such
limits as is consistent with the courtesy due to
my readers, if haply I find any. He prefers, as
his pseudonym implies, to remain an unknown
quantity. I need only explain that he is an
officer employed in one of the small States of
the Malay Peninsula, which are (very much)
under the protection of the Colonial Government
of the Straits Settlements. The latter, with
careful forethought for their ease-loving rulers,
appoints officers to relieve them of all the cares
and duties of administration, and absolves them
from the responsibility of a Government some-
what more progressive in its policy than might
commend itself to Oriental ideas, if left without
such outside assistance.
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
As the title intimates, Mr. X.'s duties compel
him to make his home in the jungle. The word
has many significations in the East, where it is
often used to express a region remote from
civilization, although perhaps consisting of
barren mountains or treeless plains. Mr. X.'s
jungle, however, is one realizing what it repre-
sents to the untravelled Englishman. It is a
land of hill and dale covered with thickly growing
forest trees, with here and there by the side of
the rivers, which are Nature's thoroughfares, or
the main roads made by man, small oases of
cultivation. It is a beautiful country, with a
climate which those who live in it and they are
the best witnesses declare to be healthy and
agreeable. And the members of the small com-
munity who form the European population
take a personal pride in the amenities of their
beautiful retreat, with its perennial verdure, and
glory in their " splendid isolation." Criticisms
are resented, and suggestions of indisposition
due to climatic influence held to be little short of
traitorous. So, as may be imagined, it was a
matter of no ordinary interest when X. not only
complained of being unwell, but also developed
signs of a chronic discontent. For X. no Mr.
was necessary in that little round-table club
certainly was unwell. Of this there could be no
doubt, and such a condition of body was little
short of an abuse of the privileges of the place.
A SELECT COMMUNITY.
But since he could give no real explanation
of his feelings, and only sighed vaguely when
engaged in the daily preprandial game of billiards
at the club, it was thought best to ignore
his new departure, and to leave the subject
severely alone.
However, the effect of this wise treatment was
entirely ruined by the arrival of the doctor, who
bore the sounding official designation of the
Residency surgeon. This gentleman was wont
to be sceptical in the matter of ailments, limiting
his recognition only to honest, downright illness
worthy of the attention of a medico whose name
stood in front of a formidable array of honourable
letters, too numerous for him to mention. But
even really great people are not always strictly
consistent, and occasionally make small lapses
from the straight path of precedent and so this
man of science deigned to cast an eye of interest
upon the ailment of X. That it should be worthy
of notice at all was enough for the companions of
the now much-appreciated invalid, but when the
great man added to his notice by bestowing a
classical name, expressions of sympathy knew no
bounds, and the unwonted solicitude was almost
more than the sufferer could bear with the
dignified attitude of conscious merit fitting to
the occasion. Something rather distingue had
happened to the place, something quite new. A
vulgar complaint was a subject for reprobation
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
and not sympathy, as casting discredit on this
salubrious retreat, but a malady composed of two
words out of the Greek Lexicon conferred a
distinction perhaps unknown to, and to be envied
by, the larger communities beyond the pass. The
matter was most seriously discussed, and the
decision arrived at that X. wanted a change. Not
exactly that a change would do him good, but
because, when he came back, the change, from
the place he went to, to his happy home in Pura
Pura, would work wonders for his health. As
the doctor endorsed the former part of the
verdict, rather modifying it by suggesting, that
there were few conditions of health when a
change would not be beneficial to a hard-worked
official, there remained nothing but to select the
spot to which X. his leave once granted must
go. It would never, of course, do that he should
go to Penang, or even to Hong Kong or Japan,
such an expedition would be too ordinary and
commonplace. It was felt that X. should do
something worthy of the occasion, and show his
appreciation of the place he lived in by going to
one as similar in respect of people and scenery as
could be found, and so, when the person chiefly
concerned, knowing what was expected of him,
suggested Java, the idea was accepted, and Java
it was settled to be. And that night at the Club
there was a long sitting, and Manop, the patient
barman, had to record the disappearance of many
A SELECT COMMUNITY.
extra " stengahs,"* as the matter was discussed
in all its bearings. Those of the community who
had been to Java recalled their experiences and
recollections of that country, rather to the
annoyance of those others whose travels, though
perhaps more extended, had not led them in the
same direction, and thus had to accept the
unwelcome role of silent listeners. However,
goaded by long endurance, one of the party, the
scene of whose stories mostly lay in the Anti-
podes, remarked that certainly when X. returned
from Java he must write a book about it, because
if he had only half as much to communicate
as the present speakers, the book would be full
of information. This little sarcasm was entirely
spoilt by being taken literally, as it was at once
decided that X. must write a book. Vainly he
protested that it would be impossible to write a
book after only a brief visit to a place, as he
could only put into it what was already known
to others ; his objections were over-ruled, and
he was reminded that only the other day, when
H. E., the Governor, progressed (which is the
official rendering of travelled) through a neigh-
bouring State (known to those present only too
painfully well, through many weary days spent in
the jungles while exploring and actually construc-
ting the path over which this " progress " was
subsequently made), one of the party wrote a
* Local name for " peg."
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
book which announced the discovery of a newly
found place, and even went so far as to sniff
severely at the presumption of those who had
undergone these early days of toil, because
certain grateful pioneers had named various
landmarks after friends who had assisted them in
the first months of settlement. " If that State,
which we know so well, was discovered so
recently," urged one of the speakers, "why not
discover Java? " " And as for a fortnight being
too brief a time," suggested another "did the
Progress take longer ? " And thus, it being an
unwritten law in Pura Pura that the wishes of
the community should be respected, X. having
" now returned from leave, has commissioned a
chronicler to write about what he saw in Java,
though it would be an easier task were the latter
allowed to write about the community. But that
must not be at any rate now. Java is the theme
that, and no other.
THE START.
CHAPTER II.
THE START.
IN the few days which elapsed before the due
arrival of official permission for X. to leave the
jungle, it might have been observed that he was
changed. The hitherto sedate individual became
fussy and worried, and members of The Com-
munity agreed that he was "journey-proud" a
happy expression used by one of the neighbouring
Malay potentates when wishing to describe his feel-
ings at a time of emerging from the security of his
own retreat. But there was much to do clothes
not looked at since the distant days when they left
those cities on the other side of the pass, had to
be inspected and all their lapses laid bare moths
had eaten holes in most conspicuous places, and
in others rats had, literally, made their nests.
The shirts were whitened shams, as they lay, no
more than so many " dickeys," in a row, for
when unfolded it was found that they had lost
their tails, long since the prey of cockroaches or
bedding for the young of mice; collars, when
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
severed from their fray, were sadly diminished in
height, and the overhauling of the boot depart-
ment revealed the fact that there was nothing
that would bear a more critical eye than that of
" The Community." However, the best had to
be made of a bad job, and one Bo Ping, a stitcher
in leather, certainly did his best in the matter.
Then an equal preparation was required for the
wardrobes of Usoof and Abu, the two followers
selected to accompany X. upon his travels. This
entailed many visits from the local tailors, who
spent long hours in the back premises, accom-
panied by all their friends and relations for in
Pura Pura, as amongst many other Eastern
peoples, for one person at work there are always
ten looking on. Thus the interest in these pro-
ceedings was not centred upon X. to some he
played quite a secondary part in the matter, being
merely an incident connected with the departure
of Usoof, who was going to Java, which was his
birthplace as all the world knew but which he
had left years ago, when little more than a baby
in arms. Usoof was going home to find his
relations and tell them all about himself, and
" Tuan " * X. happened to be going too. This
being a fact widely reported and discussed nightly
far into the small hours of the morning, while
friends ate light refreshments of bread and sugar
with pink-coloured syrups to wash them down, it
:;: Malay equivalent for Mister = Sahib.
THE START.
is not to be wondered at that X. began at last to
feel that it was settled he was going principally to
search for Usoof's mother, who was possibly
living in a village somewhere in Java, her name
unknown ; indeed, her still being in the land of
the living was a matter of conjecture. This quest,
however, which obtained additional interest from
the little that was knowable of its object, is
alluded to here, so that when it is subsequently
related how it led X. from the beaten track of
tourists, there may be no surprise, since it can be
understood that it would have been impossible for
him to return to Pura Pura without some attempt
to perform that which was expected of him.
In due time arrived the document permitting X.
to leave Pura Pura, and the day of departure was
fixed. Usoof and Abu had already gone on ahead
in a bullock cart with the luggage, and X. was to
leave next morning. Several of " The Com-
munity " kindly came to see the start and sat calm
and superior over their long " stengahs," while
the intending traveller endeavoured to compress
into a quarter of an hour the final instructions for
the regulation of affairs in his absence. However,
after writing various little memos and giving many
injunctions to the syces and tenants generally,
concerning the care of the horses, sheep, geese,
dogs, bears, tame storks, porcupines, and other
live stock which belonged to the household, the
traveller mounted into his sulky, with that sinking
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
in the region of his heart which comes to all those
temporarily about to leave Pura Pura's secluded
calm. And thus he drove forth into the great
populous world beyond. The first glimpse of it
was distant twenty-four miles, and reached after
a drive through some of the most beautiful jungle
scenery imaginable. This oasis of civilization was
the capital of the State at whose port it was
necessary to embark. Here X. remained for the
night, accepting hospitality from the kind doctor
who had looked upon his complaint and so
scientifically localised and named it. To one
fresh from the jungle, this evening appeared full
of novelty and life, from the fact of there being
10 strange faces present. One of the party was a
French Roman Catholic priest, known to all in
the various States as a man of practical good
works and a congenial companion. And there
was also a gentleman of title a visitor fresh from
England who should have been called a globe-
trotter had he not, in the course of the meal,
thanked Providence that he had come across
none of that genus in those localities. This
gentleman, who rejoiced at the absence of globe-
trotters, was bound for such a variety of places in
such a short space of time that X. could only
regard him with bewilderment and envy. For
while he had only undertaken his journey
after the mature consideration of a month, during
which time the correspondence concerning leave
THE START.
and medical certificates had assumed proportions
of official magnitude, this traveller carried with
him all the documents connected with his plans
in the form of a piece of paper on which was
written exactly where he must sleep, lunch, and
dine during the ensuing fortnight. It would be
interesting to know if this visitor actually accom-
plished his task and saw all that he proposed in
the time allowed. Perhaps, when he gets home,
his community the other titled people will put
pressure on him to write a book, and satisfy our
legitimate curiosity.
On the following morning X. boarded the train
on the railroad which connects the capital with
the sea. He found himself an object of interest 1 1
to the dwellers in those distant parts, not only as
the fleshly embodiment of the personality hitherto
known as initials at the bottom of official minutes,
but as the champion who had not long since
descended from his mountain for the purpose of
engaging the railway in litigation, in consequence
of his garments having suffered from sparks on
the occasion of his last venture in the train.
This case had excited considerable interest,
and X. had made a triumphant exit, as he drove
away from the court with portions of charred
wardrobe packed in behind. During the present
journey there were no sparks, and the coast was
reached without any incident which might
promise litigation. The party consisting of X.,
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
Usoof and Abu, embarked on the s.s. Malacca, a
fairly comfortable steamship with a kindly
captain. The sniff of the sea was delightful to
the jungle-wallah, and, freed from official chains,
he reclined in a long chair feeling that all his
plans and preparations had at least a present
good result. The only incident of the voyage
that remains in his memory is the fact that a
Chinese passenger sitting opposite at dinner
drank a bottle of whisky and a bottle of claret
mixed, and appeared to suffer no subsequent
inconvenience. In the evening the ship lay off
Malacca. There are few more suggestive views
than this one of twinkling lights, here and there
12 disclosing momentary peeps of that picturesque
old town, peeps that conjure forth visions of half
forgotten stories of that place of many memories,
told, in the jungle by the flicker of the camp fire,
by Malays, adepts at relating tales handed down
by their fathers.
Then the cool evening of a tropical climate, the
sea glinting in silver moonlit streaks around the
ship, which throwing a huge shadow on the water
lies silently swinging to her anchor before the
peering little red stars of that solitary old-world
city. Scenes such as these are some compensa-
tion to many a home-sick exile.
Ah, well, we must not get sentimental and
out of tune, though the snores of the whisky-
claret Chinaman are particularly discordant.
THE START.
However he passed as happily passengers do
and so did the night and the early dawn as the
s.s. Malacca approached the beautiful island of
Singapore (does everyone know it is an island ?)
Ask you another ! Well, can my readers say
straight off what constitutes the Straits Settle-
ments, and which are islands ? but never mind
skip this and hurry on over the bracket, if an
answer were really wanted the bracket would not
be there.
13
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
CHAPTER III.
SINGAPORE.
I SEE that X. has it in his notes that the first
view of this city is the most beautiful in the
East does he mean the approach, the view, or
the city. It perhaps does not greatly matter,
but it is certain that he recorded the fact that to
a poor jungle- wallah like himself it seemed very
vast and full of life, as he dressed himself and
prepared to re-enter the world from which he had
so long been absent. A gharry a close carriage
on four wheels with a dirty-looking driver and a
tiny pony now conveyed, or rather set forth to
convey, the traveller to the hospitable house of
a certain distinguished general who resides in
Singapore.
Singapore is a city in which it is notoriously
difficult to find one's way about, as all the roads
seem alike they are all excellent and so do the
houses. Had I not undertaken to tell you how
X. went to Java, I should like to stop and relate
SINGAPORE.
how once on this account the writer dined at the
wrong house and dined well while his host,
whose name he never knew, preserved an
exquisite sang-froid and never showed surprise ;
but such egotistic digressions might possibly
annoy X. who has a right to claim the first place
in this little history.
The driver apparently knew where no one as an
individual lived, and entirely relied on strange
local descriptions known only to the native
inhabitants, therefore it was vain for X. to try
and explain where he wanted to go. It transpired
from interrogations of passers by that no gharry
driver or Malay policeman had heard of the
General or even that such a personage existed 15
X. never told the General that and thus the
gharry containing X., and the two which followed
with the suite and luggage, drove backwards and
forwards puzzling people as they went, for such
twistings and turnings argued ignorance of
locality, and ignorance of locality meant a globe-
trotter, and yet no mail steamer was in, and,
again, no globe trotter would be followed by two
Malays. And presently he again endeavoured
to explain where he wanted to go in forcible
Malay this made the problem more difficult
till the passers by, mostly cooks going to market,
gave it up as one too deep, or perhaps too
trivial, for solution. The morning drive thus
lasted till Europeans early for office appeared
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
in their smart buggies and fast trotting horses,
and one of these magnates of commerce coming
to the rescue, it was explained to the gharry
syce that the Commander of all the Forces
occupied a house where Mr. So-and-so used to
live, after the celebrated Mr. So-and-so had sold
off his racing stud and given up the house
"didn't the driver remember?" "Yes, was
not Omad the chief syce " to the gentleman
alluded to? At this the driver exclaimed, "of
course," and whipping up his pony, with a
withering look at his face, which implied " if
only he had had the sense to tell me that before,"
he drove direct to one of the largest and most
16 imposing mansions of the town.
Saved from the hotels of Singapore, where
bewildered travellers grumble and strange-
looking jungle- wallahs come down to drink, X.
felt all the half-dormant memories of civilization
return to him, as, passing the sentry, he entered
the spacious hall and received a kindly welcome
from his host.
Having, as the books say, removed the traces
of his journey, no very palpable ones in this case,
since washing is practicable and customary on
board s.s. Malacca, X. joined his host at breakfast
and was informed of the programme of the day
consisting of an afternoon drive, dining out in the
evening, and thence to hear the regimental band
play by moonlight in the gardens. What a gay
SINGAPORE.
place Singapore seemed to X., who nightly dined
alone, and to whom the sound of a band was a
memory of bygone days and a band by moon-
light too. Yes, that also had memories all its
own. On moonlight nights he is wont to sit
on the verandah and listen to the drowsy
monotonous singing of the Malays who dwell
in the villages below his hill. Very agreeable is
that chanting sound as it ascends, telling of
companionship and content, although for that
very reason making the solitary European feel
more solitary still. Native servants have given
him his dinner and left him to seek their own
amusement. He is a duty only, something
finished with and put away for the night, left 1 7
solitary upon the broad verandah, half envying
the natives who can enjoy the moonlight in the
society of their friends.
Here in Singapore X. need envy no one, for
was he not to go out after dinner and hear a band
in the moonlight, and a band played by Euro-
peans? The reality equalled expectation, for
moonlight in the beautiful gardens of Singapore,
with the elite of society sitting in their carriages
or strolling along the grass by the lake would have
been a pleasant evening even to people more blase
than X., nor did that person enjoy it any the less
from catching sight of Usoof and Abu standing as
lonely amongst this mass of strangers as ever he
was wont to feel when brooding in his solitude at
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
home, while they sang songs in the moonlight to
their friends.
The evening ended up with the glorious dissi-
pation of supper at the regimental mess. The
immediate result of this outing was pleasure, the
subsequent one probably the addition of another
syllable to the compound Greek word with which
X.'s ailments had been identified.
18
ON THE WAY TO JAVA.
CHAPTER IV.
ON THE WAY TO JAVA.
ON the following day, remembering what was
expected of him, X. hired a gharry and proceeded
to discharge all such obligations as etiquette
demanded from one in his peculiar official
position. The first and foremost of these was to
inscribe his name in a book in the ante-room of
the office of the Colonial Secretary. The names
in this book would make interesting reading, and,
thought X., probably become a source of wealth
could one take it into the smoking-room of a
London club and lay ten to one that no three
people present could locate the places named
upon a map. Perak* or as they would call it in
the smoking-room, Pea rack Selangor, Pahang
called at home Pahhang Jelebu, Sungei
Ujong also Londonized into Sonjeyajang and
many others of unaccustomed sound.
Official routine over (this should be semi-official
routine, suggests X., who fears that he may be
* Pronounced Perah.
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
held responsible for any error of the writer, which
may lead it to be supposed that he is arrogating
to himself any real Colonial Office rank) however,
it is difficult to be so observant of nice distinc-
tions X. next paid a visit to Messrs. John Little
and Co. Every one who has been to Singapore
has been to John Little's, for it is better known to
the dwellers in that city than even Whitely to Lon-
doners. Whitely has rivals, John Little has none.
From this famous provider of necessaries and
superfluities to the hospitable club is but a step,
and there the traveller .lunched. This club is the
meeting-place of all the prominent merchants in
Singapore. The building is a fine one, with a
20 verandah overlooking the sea, and the members
always cordially welcome strangers and neigh-
bours from the adjoining peninsula. Having said
this much I feel compelled to risk incurring the
displeasure of X., who will be credited with
having told me, and add that the company is
better than the cooking. The quality of the
fluids and the quantity are without reproach, but
the food ! that is one of the things they manage
better in the jungle.
In the afternoon the General was again as good
as his word, and took his guest for a drive,
showing to his wondering eyes all the beauties of
the new water- works. The China mail had that
morning come in, and this favourite resort was
dotted over with evident passengers, some of
ON THE WAY TO JAVA.
them globe-trotters. What would the titled
traveller have said had his hurried steps taken
him that way ? In the evening His Excellency
gave a dinner party to twenty guests culled from
the most select circles in Singapore. To sit at
table with so many Europeans would at any time
have been a new sensation to X., but to suddenly
find himself one of such a distinguished company
was almost alarming in its novelty. However,
being happily situated by the side of Beauty, the
situation expanded generally, and had any mem-
ber of The Community been watching, he might
have thought that X. was proving false to the
creed that there was no place like Pura Pura for
a man to dwell in. 21
That which to the other diners was a matter of
every day, to him was both a present pleasure and
a glimpse of the past.
It was, of course, quite hopeless to attempt to
explain to anyone whence he came, or where he
lived, for the very name of Pura Pura was
unknown to them, and so it was necessary to
pose as a passenger passing through en route to
Java.
Some amongst the company had been to Java
(including the host), and all spoke in high terms
of the civility to be found there.
In the morning the traveller took leave of his
kind host, who left first at 5.30 a.m. for some
early little game of war, a description of which
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
would probably have been as vague to a civilian
as would the geographical position of Pura Pura,
or the exact official status of X., to members of
the company of the previous evening. The great
soldier having driven off in full uniform through
a throng of salaaming menials of various
nationalities, X. entered his humble gharry, and,
followed by Usoof and Abu, drove to the
Messagerie wharf. The steamer for Batavia was
the s.s. Godavery, which was in connection with
the mails for home. The cost of the passage is,
perhaps, for the actual distance travelled, the
most expensive in the world. The time taken by
the voyage is thirty-six hours.
22
BATAVIA.
CHAPTER V.
BATAVIA.
THE voyage on board the Godavery resembled
similar ones, with the notable difference that the
excellent cuisine made X. wish that the time to be
spent in transit were longer. The only people who
were not contented were Usoof and Abu, for each 23
of whom their employer was paying the sum of three
dollars a night. These particular Mahomedans
refused to touch the food shovelled out to them,
and to crowds of natives of all colour and class by
the rough and ready Chinese servants, and towards
the end of the second day, having eaten nothing,
they presented a very woebegone and miserable
appearance. However, a few more judiciously
placed dollars produced them a square meal of
bread and tea, after which they smiled.
There is perhaps no sensation so agreeable as
the arrival in a strange port. Thoughts and con-
jectures as to the possibilities that lie beyond the
landing place are innumerable, and fancy and
anticipation are equally strong. When the
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
Godavery steamed into Batavia it was still dark
and the rain was coming down in torrents. It all
looked miserable enough, but, once alongside the
wharf, daylight began to appear and the pas-
sengers trooped ashore. The station was more
than a quarter of a mile from the place of landing,
and this distance the poor people had to hurry
along in the rain.
The unfortunate natives carrying bundles con-
taining their belongings were drenched to the
skin. Also the European passengers less objects
of pity, as only the portion of their wardrobe
actually worn was exposed to the rain came in
for a considerable share of the moisture of that
24 wet arrival. It is true there was a magnificent
covered way, but this was hopelessly blocked up
with trucks and other railway gear, which were,
presumably, more susceptible to cold than the
passengers. The luggage was quickly and cour-
teously passed by the Custom House officials, and
the travellers entered a luxuriously fitted train
apparently a show train, as X. never met another
like it in Java.
Arrival in Batavia town created a good first
impression, as there were no pestering crowds, as
there are in Singapore, and there were many
carriages waiting for hire, all two-horsed and good.
The drive to the hotel was a long one, through
the business portions of the town, till the resi-
dential side was reached. Here detached houses
BATAVIA.
are situated alongside the principal road, on the
other side of which flows a canal, giving to the
place an appropriate Dutch appearance.
The hotel was a most imposing building out-
side, with apparently countless rooms, but the
thing which immediately struck X. as something
uncommon was the fact that the floors of the
apartments were level with the ground and not
raised as is the case in Singapore and the Penin-
sula, and he felt feverish as he noticed it. The
traveller was allotted a fair sized room opening on
to a court yard, with other rooms and other open-
ings to the right and to the left, and in fact all
round him, and in front of these rooms sat people
in every stage of deshabille. There seemed to be 25
no privacy and what, perhaps, under the circum-
stances was fortunate, no shyness. X. however
had not yet reached that point of his observations,
and, entering his room, he shut the door and
ordered his first meal in Java. This turned out
to be a terrible repast, consisting of a plate of cold
clammy selections from the interior of some edible
beast, two cold hard-boiled eggs, three small cold
fish roasted in cocoanut oil, and something in-
tended to resemble ham and eggs. This first
meal is mentioned in detail as it was but a fore-
taste of an equally trying series. X. thought of
Dagonet and that power of description which,
when relating dyspeptic woes, will compel the
sympathy of the hardiest feeder.
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
It did not take long to skim hastily over the
surface of these uninviting viands, and now X.
turned his attention to the notices which stared
at him from every wall. These in many languages
threatened all travellers with penalties if, imme-
diately after their arrival, they neglected to obtain
permission to reside in Netherlands India. After
reading this, X. lost no time in sending for a con-
veyance to drive to the British Consulate. The
gentleman who received him there was extremely
civil and gave him all the information in his
power. It appeared that if the traveller was
anxious for facts about Java, the officials of that
country were equally so in requiring the same from
26 him, and he was obliged to fill in a printed form
stating his age, birthplace, residence and occupa-
tion, etc., and, when this was done, pay one guilder
and a half for his trouble. The next step was to
go to the Bank, and nothing could exceed the
kindness with which he was received at this place,
and the thoughtful manager assisted the stranger
to decide where he had better go in order to best
see something of the country, and what was most
to the point, wrote for him the names of places
and hotels which seem outlandish and terrible on
first meeting with them. X. learnt to his dismay
that the system of obtaining money by cheque was
almost unknown, and it would always be necessary
to carry money and, when more was wanted, re-
ceive it by registered letter through the post. The
BATAVIA.
idea of carrying ready money to a person who had
for years followed the customs of the East and
depended on cheques and " chits," seemed a new
trouble for which he had not been prepared. On
the drive back to the hotel through streets sloppy
with mud, the first new impression made upon the
traveller was caused by the number of natives
selling vegetables good wholesome English look-
ing specimens, especially carrots. This was a
refreshing sight after years of seeing no familiar
vegetables, except those which passed long periods
of imprisonment in tins.
All along the route natives of either sex were
bathing in the filthy water of the canal without
even a suspicion of that modesty which charac- 27
terises the Malays. Impression No. 2 was noted
to the effect that none of the natives wore boots
or shoes, and all plashed barefooted through the
mud. He had already had his attention called to
this absence of shoes when coming up in the train
by the notice (not to say the excitement) attracted
by the neatly-booted feet of his followers. Could
it be possible that they would also be obliged to
go barefooted through the muddy streets ? And
still worse thought would it fall to his lot to
break it to them ? The natives all appeared larger
and more strongly built than the Malays of the
Peninsula, but, as in Singapore, they were a
hybrid lot, and there were also to be seen a
variety of other nationalities Malay nationalities
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
but, strange to say, no Arabs, and, more
remarkable still, no Chinamen. To those readers
who may not have visited that part of the world
of which I write, it should be explained that
Singapore is almost entirely populated by
Chinese, and in the native states they materially
outnumber the Malays, so that the eye is accus-
tomed to see Chinese everywhere and regard
them as the real inhabitants of the country.
Their absence in a Malay town strikes anyone
coming from the Peninsula as strange. Cf
course there are Chinese in Batavia, and many of
them, as X. soon learnt, but they do not pervade
the whole place as is the case in the English
28 colonies over the way.
Reaching the hotel X. was relieved to find that
Usoof and Abu had discarded their boots, and
were picking their way delicately across the mud
of the courtyard. Also they had been provided
with an excellent curry. Then he prepared to
get ready for his own lunch, and next to bathe.
In order to do this it was necessary to run the
gauntlet of many eyes, as the bathroom was some
distance off, and, to reach it, the entire length of
the verandah must be passed. On to this
verandah opened the doors of bedrooms, the
occupant of each sitting in his long chair in
front exactly, as Abu remarked, like vendors
holding stalls in a market. The long chairs were
of the luxurious kind, with short seats and long
BATAVIA.
movable arms, and on which latter the occupants
extended their naked feet. This of course refers
to the men. Ladies also sat there, in what X.
subsequently learnt was not altogether considered
deshabille, namely, the sarong and kabaya of the
country. The first-named garment, it may be
explained for the benefit of readers in the West,
is a close-fitting petticoat such as the natives
wear, and the latter a white linen jacket. It
required some courage to take that first walk
along this verandah, but things seldom continue
to seem strange, unless other people look as if
they thought them so, and as these reclining rows
of visitors lay back doing nothing, not even read-
ing, with an air of unconcern, it was not difficult 29
for X. to assume one too. However, he could not
but believe that he helped to fill in that vacant
blank in which the sitters sank, as he passed
along, himself clad in wondrous garments made
of gaudy silks woven by the skilled natives of the
Peninsula, while Usoof and Abu followed, bringing
the towels and soap. Nor did he entirely deceive
himself, since he was subsequently informed by
Usoof that the " boy " of a Nyonia, or what in
Singapore is called a " mem," told him that his
lady had instructed him to discover whether X.
had many more of those silk sarongs for sale.
Lunch was perhaps the first real revelation of
life in Java, since it introduced the traveller to
that which a majority of the people seem to live
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
for (and always sleep after) the rice-table. This
rice-table has been so often described that it need
not be done in detail here ; but the basis, as it
were, of this rice-table is, as may be supposed,
rice, and with this foundation in your plate,
innumerable dishes of eggs, fish, meat, etc., are
offered by a string of attendants, who expect you
to put some of each on the top of it. Probably
this is only a literal and exaggerated interpreta-
tion of a Malay curry, which is incomplete
without the countless little relishes which should
accompany it. This particular dish, or rather
function, is seen in its fullest development in the
up-country places, visited later, and the one in
30 Batavia was scarcely a fair sample, as though X.
was unaware of this at the time, its proportions
had evidently been toned down and diminished
out of deference to the cosmopolitan character of
the guests, who, probably like our traveller, had
on former occasions given their ignorance away
by asking for more plates and taking each dish
seriously, as though it were a separate course, sent
up before its time, at the risk of getting cold. To
a person accustomed to Singapore there was
something novel and cheering about the first
meal in the vast dining-hall of this hotel. The
floor was of marble scrupulously clean and the
Javanese waiters were dressed in a uniform of
white trimmed with red, presenting a pleasing
contrast to the slipshod dirty " boy " of an
BATAVIA.
ordinary hotel, whose habit it is to clatter round
flapping your face and brushing your food with
his long, unclean, hanging sleeves. Though in
the native states from whence X. came it is no
uncommon thing to see Malays wait at table, yet
in Singapore, with the exception of Indian ser-
vants, it is very seldom that there are any
attendants but Chinese.
Perhaps the most striking feature of the meal
was the absence of bread. This could be pro-
cured, when asked for, but was not provided, as
it is elsewhere, as a matter of course, and was
regarded as an extra. An excellent arrangement
of this marble hall was that it was permitted to
smoke immediately after lunch. As, availing 31
himself of this, X. smoked his cigarette and
meditated contentedly, he noted all the various
details which might interest The Community at
home. One rather prominent detail was a lady
at a neighbouring table dressed only in a sarong
and kabaya, with her extremities bare. The
lower portion of these were thrust into some loose
sandal slippers, the upper turned back as far under
the chair as the stretch of the sarong would allow.
It was not a costume which, from X.'s point of
view, appeared elegant, though, like most articles
of apparel worn by beauty, capable of becoming
elegant if elegantly worn ; still in the present
instance more natural elegance would be required
in proportion to that of the costume, there being
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
so little of the latter. Returning to the publicity
of his apartment, X. was met by Usoof and Abu,
both with very long faces and evidently in con-
siderable distress. On being interrogated it
transpired that they had nowhere to bathe. Now
to bathe, and bathe constantly, is as necessary to
a Malay as are regular meals to a European. X.,
being sadly aware that he would be held responsi-
ble for everything that went wrong or did not fit
in with the exact views of these children of nature,
thought it best to be brave at the commencement
of things and affect an indifference which he was
far from really feeling, and, therefore, with a jerk
of his head towards the canal, replied that that
32 vvas where people bathed. " Yes, perhaps people,"
said Abu, with meaning, and then for fear X.
should not be sufficiently intelligent to catch
the tone, added " people who don't mind filth or
water like that in a drain." This seemed to need
no answer, and as Usoof had reserved his remarks
X. knew that worse was to come, and he would be
more prudent to wait and reply on the whole
question, instead of being drawn into argument
as though he were actually to blame for this
terrible state of affairs. But as Usoof still kept
silence X. rashly thought he had gained an easy
victory, and airily added, " All right, you must
make the best of it and go to the canal." Then
the reserved remarks found vent, " Was the
Tuan aware that all the women in the place
BATAVIA.
bathed there ? " " Yes," this had to be admitted,
since the Tuan himself had noticed it, and, as has
been recorded above, not without some comments
of his own. " Then how can I bathe there at the
same time ? " continued Usoof, " I should be
ashamed." " Well, if they are not you need not
be," rather frivolously replied his master, as he
sought escape from further conversation by
burrowing in a box full of books. It may as
well be recorded here that the couple never did
bathe in that canal, and eventually drove some
miles into the country, where they performed
their modest ablutions by a village well. They
also refused to permit any clothes to be sent to
the wash in Batavia, and they were not far wrong, 33
since the water of the canal was equally unfitted
for washing either clothes or the human body it
was their office to adorn.
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
CHAPTER VI.
AN OFFICIAL CALL.
AFTER luncheon X. took a drive. All the most
noteworthy features of Batavia are duly set forth
in guide books, and it is therefore only advisable
to mention those few points of difference from
34 an English colonial town which seemed to the
traveller worthy pf note. The principal one was
that all the residents' houses were built along the
side of the high road ; there were no secluded
mansions standing in their own grounds as in
Singapore. All the houses were obtrusively
en evidence, so much so, that people, socially
inclined, take their evening drive and note
at a glance, by the lights displayed, who is
at home and ready to receive. Those not
prepared to entertain sit in semi-darkness. The
houses seemed as devoid of privacy as were the
verandahs of the hotels. Planted on each side
of the road were huge towering trees testifying
by their presence that the town was not of mush-
room growth. No Europeans were met ; this was
AN OFFICIAL CALL.
understood later when it was explained that at
this hour of the day they were all asleep. At first
it seemed that there were no shops, but closer
observation discovered them under the same roof
as some of the private dwellings, standing detached
away from the road. The English Church wore
a deserted aspect, closed and uncared for. Possibly
the driver libelled the community when he
informed the traveller that it was never used.
The ordinary carriage is a dos-a-dos, a most
uncomfortable conveyance like an Irish car turned
end on, but excellent carriages are provided by
the hotels.
Later our traveller proposed to call upon the
Resident the chief authority in the place and 35
present his letters of introduction. He had been
told that he must not call before 7.30 in the
evening, and also that he must wear dress clothes.
It seemed an outrageous thing to do, to put
on dress clothes in broad daylight in an hotel and
to go out about dinner time to call, and when he
summoned Usoof to assist him, that grave-faced
individual did so with a kind of [silent pity for
his master compelled to do unaccountable things
in a land of strangers.
However, when X. had arrayed himself, as
though he were dining out, his heart failed him.
He felt it was impossible to go to the house of a
stranger like this just at the hour for dinner
without appearing as though he hoped he would
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
be asked to stay for that meal. And so he
shamefacedly untied his white tie and asked
Usoof to provide him with a morning coat. This
apprehension might have been spared, however ;
the call was never actually paid, for, in the drive
that led up to the house of the Resident, he met a
carriage coming out containing a gentleman and
three ladies. This turned out to be the Resident
with his wife and daughters. It was an agreeable
surprise to find that the carriage stopped, and the
traveller had the somewhat difficult task of intro-
ducing himself and explaining his appearance in
the dark. The Resident, who spoke excellent
English, was most cordial and kind. He regretted
36 that he was not at home to receive the intended
visit, but he was obliged to attend a reception
given in honour of the General, the hero of the
Lomboh War. Then the great official expressed
a hope that X. had secured his permit, and told
him that he must renew it when he reached
Buitensug, which was the limit of his jurisdiction.
X. noticed that the Resident was not in dress
clothes and mentally congratulated himself that
he wore none either, or most certainly as the
carriage drove away he would have looked like a
person disappointed of a dinner.
The hotel was most gorgeously illuminated
with electric light, and the marble dining hall
was extravagantly lurid. Had X. consulted his
convenience he would certainly have worn his black
AN OFFICIAL CALL.
sun spectacles, but actually feared to alarm his
followers by exhibiting any further tendency to
eccentricity on their first day in a strange country,
and so he resigned himself to blink owlishly
throughout the meal. The absence of a punkah,
a necessity to which he was accustomed, was also
a trial. However, there was little fear of getting
hot by over indulgence at the table, as the chilly
cocoanut-oily viands were excellent checks to any
imprudent display of appetite. Towards the end
of the repast the proprietor of the hotel informed
X. that the Resident of Batavia wished to speak to
him through the telephone. If there is one place
where he exhibits himself in an unfavourable light
it is in front of that horrible, muttering, jibbering 37
instrument, when, after the introductory " Who's
there ? " and information as to who you are
repeated ad nauseam, there rumble to your ear
the most exasperating sounds, so full of meaning
and yet conveying nothing, until it seems as
though the person at the other end were mocking
you, and the tone of his voice gets so irritating
that you long to throw down the tubes and make
a rush at him. However, on this occasion X.
wisely left the whole matter in the hands of the
proprietor, who presently informed him that the
Resident invited him to an open air concert given
at the Concordia Club in honour of the General,
then the man of the hour, and, if he would care to
come, an English friend would presently call for
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
him at the hotel. The only possible answer to
such a welcome invitation was duly transmitted.
X. has, according to his own account, all his
life been a most fortunate individual. Wherever
he went he has always, as the phrase has it,
"fallen on his feet." On this expedition his luck
did not desert him, and on the appearance of his
fellow countryman which took place (to be exact
in speaking of an event now historical) at g p.m.,
there commenced a new departure which forged a
first link in the chain of events which was to
happily land him in the most beautiful country
that he had ever yet beheld. X. has always
thought of telephones more kindly since.
38
A CONCERT AT THE CONCORDIA CLUB.
CHAPTER VII.
A CONCERT AT THE CONCORDIA CLUB.
THE traveller was naturally much impressed with
the scene at the Concordia Club. In the beauti-
ful gardens, which were gorgeously illuminated,
people were walking about and sitting down as
though it were an English summer night. But, 39
as in the East thoughts of health and diet always
occupy an extraordinarily prominent place in the
minds of all who have dwelt there for any length
of time, that which chiefly struck the stranger
was the apparently reckless indifference to fever
displayed by those flaneurs who dawdled about
under the trees on this treacherous soil, as though
it were the harmless green grass of Hurlingham
at home. And it almost relieved him to hear
presently from a lady, to whom he expressed this
astonishment, that the doctors declared this
season of open air concerts was certainly the
most busy time for colds and fever. The Resi-
dent and his party were seated at a round table
on the top of the flight of marble steps leading to
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
the Club. To each person of this group X. was
presented in turn, after which he had the honour
of a seat on the right hand of his host and thus
full opportunity to enjoy the novelty of the
surroundings and the excellent music of the band.
As the party gathered round the table included
some of the greatest names in the country, people
who were in a position to have an intimate know-
ledge of recent events, the conversation proved
interesting and instructive. Thus the English-
man heard the story of the Balineri war that
terrible defeat and massacre of the Dutch troops
under the command of the general, who ulti-
mately retrieved the position, and to do honour
4-0 to whom all were assembled to-night. X. listened
as people spoke of the unparalleled treachery of
the natives, the sufferings of the troops, and the
assistance rendered to the enemy by the importa-
tion of arms by a European. And severe remarks
were made as to this latter incident, some present
insisting that the culprit was an Englishman
from Singapore. War was in the air everyone
talked of the war, and such an impression did
the matter make upon X., who heard the conduct
of the campaign discussed wherever he went,
throughout his stay, that it may be of interest to
give in a separate chapter the story of what was
said about the recent war.
All those who joined the party on the terrace
spoke English, to the relief of X. and as new
A CONCERT AT THE CONCORDIA CLUB.
guests arrived to join the circle they were formally
introduced by name to each one among the
company in that precise manner which is the
fashion in America. And likewise when any
individual rose to leave he would bid good-night
to each separate member of the party.
When I undertook to compile this little
account of how X. went to Java, it had been my
intention to arrange what he saw and what he
heard in some order of sequence, but from the
nature of his manner of observation, I find this to
be impossible, and therefore must record each
impression he received and facts of interest which
he heard, just as they came to him, regardless of
apparent want of connection. As the chief object 41
of this sketch is to assist others intending to
spend a short holiday in that beautiful island
belonging to our neighbours, this little originality
may pass.
Thus on this occasion the traveller learnt that,
contrary to his former ideas on the matter, the
Civil Service was much underpaid, and that,
though it corresponds with our Indian Civil
Service in standard of examination, etc., the scale
of pay and of pensions falls far short of its proto-
type. And it may be mentioned here, as showing
what an important part naval officers are expected
to play in Dutch East India, that all midshipmen
have to pass in the Malay language. The
command of the squadron on the waters of
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
Netherlands India is the prize of the service, to
the holding of which the most distinguished naval
officers look forward. The Governor General of
the Dutch possessions in the East is known as
His Excellency during his term of office. The
admiral who commands there not only has the
same title during the years of his command, but is
entitled to retain it for the remainder of his life.
In the course of conversation the Resident kindly
informed X. that he must not be annoyed at being
obliged to obtain a permit to travel, since it had
been found necessary to insist that even his own
countrymen should do so, and he had recently
caused notices to be issued and posted in all the
42 steamers and hotels, so that there might be no
misunderstanding in the matter. After the
concert and the conclusion of a most agreeable
evening X. was introduced to the Harmonic Club,
where he had supper.
This, like the Concordia, is a magnificent
building with marble pillars and floors, more in
accordance with his early ideas of the gorgeous
East than anything which the traveller had seen.
The Harmonic Club was built during the time
when Java was an English possession and his
informant, the Englishman, sighed. It was not
long before the new comer also sighed, when,
having seen the beauties of this glorious country,
he remembered that but for the blindness of some
former rulers, unmindful of the advice of those on
A CONCERT AT THE CONCORDIA CLUB.
the spot who should know, another India might
have been held for England. But as the natural
beauty of the country was enhanced and made
complete by the sight of universal prosperity and
content, the sound of such a sigh from an English
visitor is the greatest compliment the present
proprietors could be paid.
The first day of X.'s stay in Java was now over
a pleasant day enough, as he admitted to
himself, after a long seclusion in the jungle the
place on which, after all, his last thoughts rested,
that negatively happy jungle and its kindly
inhabitants represented to his immediate view
by two inanimate bundles on the floor entrenched
behind a barricade of boxes in a corner of the 43
room. These were the faithful Usoof and Abu,
long since gone to rest forgetful of all the
troubles of their first day in a new country.
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
CHAPTER VIII.
CONCERNING THE LOMBOH WAR.
LOMBOH is an island to the east of Java. The
Raja of Lomboh did not come to Batavia at a
time when it was expected of him, and after some
correspondence the Resident of the nearest
44 district was sent to see him. After in true
oriental fashion promising to give him audience,
and then failing to do so keeping the Resident
waiting a week he finally sent a message refusing
to meet him. Then troops were sent. But their
departure was not effected without a commence-
ment of that bickering which marked the whole
subsequent course of events. The General in
command was junior to the Admiral over whom
he was put. A compromise was effected by a
second general being appointed. When the
expedition reached its destination the Balineri
showed great astonishment at this parade of force,
and affected to be at a total loss to understand
why they had come.
This unexpected turn of events finally ended in
CONCERNING THE LOMBOH WAR.
a great "chumming up" which developed into
social functions and the taking of a photograph, in
which the Raja's generals and other chiefs of the
expedition were all taken in one large group.
This photograph was sent to Buitenzorg the
seat of Government as a proof of the unreality of
the scare, and the diplomatic ease with which
the expedition had been able to come, see and
conquer.
The photograph is not now to be purchased.
After the festivities and photography the Dutch
force camped by the Palace walls, and the general
in command reported officially that the matter
was settled.
On receipt of this welcome news the Governor 45
General was so delighted that he gave a
dinner party that same evening, and after the
meal was over stood on the billiard table and
made a little speech announcing the bloodless
success and happy termination of the affair
Lomboh.
The Palace where the troops had camped was
a kind of village a collection of houses sur-
rounded by a huge wall. Each day the Dutch
held parades and drill outside the village, and tried
to astonish the natives with the wonders of their
Winchesters and field guns. At these the people
professed great astonishment, examining those
modern weapons with intense interest, and asking
questions innumerable as to their construction
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
and cost. The latter is almost invariably the
first question which occurs to a native mind.
The Balinese must be clever actors, since all
the while they possessed hundreds of Win-
chesters and many pieces of field ordnance
within those deceitful walls. They were deceit-
ful walls, for they were extensively loop-holed,
the apertures being cunningly stopped up with
mortar. One evening the crisis came. The
officers while playing whist dressed in their
lounge clothes of sarong and their feet bare, were
attacked and shot down almost to a man. When
the poor fellows sought refuge under the walls,
hand grenades were fired to dislodge them. A
general panic and flight followed. Those
fugitives who had managed to effect an orderly
retreat, took refuge in a temple about half way
between their camp and that of another detach-
ment. It was only then that they realized to the
full extent the nature of the terrible disaster, for
here they met a poor remnant of that other
detachment fighting their way to them for help
they also having been treacherously attacked.
But this was not all, no warning had yet been
sent to a third detachment which had been left
on the coast. This column, ignorant of any
disaster, marched in to the recent camp and had
scarcely time to wheel round before the guns in
the loopholes opened fire, almost annihilating
them, a few only escaping back to the boats.
CONCERNING THE LOMBOH WAR.
How deeply affected were the Dutch and their
friends, the whole civilized world, at the arrival
of this terrible news, is matter of history, and for
a time something like consternation reigned in
Buitenzorg and Batavia.
After telegraphic communication with Europe,
and the fortunate mislaying of a certain message
deprecating any prompt action, the Governor
General took a popular step in deciding to send
every available man to the seat of war, and to
render all possible assistance.
This was done, and the Dutch forces subse-
quently retrieved their fortunes, in some measure
avenging the death of their comrades. But it
was at no small sacrifice, since Java the 47
Government of which place much reliance on
military display was almost destitute of troops.
As an illustration of this it is related that during
this war the Sultan of Deli elected to pay a visit
to Batavia. As only two battalions of troops
were left it was considered impolitic that he
should know it, therefore the men were marched
past him first when he was dining in the
capital, and then despatched by train to repre-
sent other battalions, and march past him once
again on the occasion of his visit to Buitenzorg
the following day.
The description of the tears of the aged Sultan
of Lomboh at the destruction of his beautiful
palace, and the marvellous stories of how jewels
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
and millions of treasure were borne away by
the victorious General more resembled a page
for the "Arabian Nights" than a record of facts
in the present day. On the other hand, accounts
of the terrible hardships endured by the brave
Dutch soldiers sounded more modern, and were
only too easy of belief.
The seat of the war was only half a day from
the Javanese port of Soerabaya, and enough
money had been collected in Java and Holland to
pay the cost of the entire war, and yet it was so
mismanaged that officers had only rice to eat,
and nightly camped out on the ground without
shelter in that fever-giving climate.
48
BUITENZORG.
CHAPTER IX.
BUITENZORG.
ON the afternoon of the day of his arrival, a
Sunday, having declined a kind invitation to a
party for the theatre, X. decided to leave for
Buitenzorg. He thought he sniffed fever mingled
with the other very apparent odours in his room 49
on the ground floor, while Usoof and Abu not
only could not bathe but were unable to send
his clothes to the wash. The combination of
reasons and of smells was strong.
It may be mentioned here, it being about as
apropos in this place as it would be in any other,
that all functions in Java, from a reception of the
Governor General to a performance by a travelling
show, take place on a Sunday.
The train left Batavia at 4.30 and X. reached
Buitenzorg at six.
So much that is misleading has been written
about Buitenzorg the Washington of Java, that
X. was woefully deceived. It certainly is a
beautiful place indeed exquisitely so, but a
FROM JUNQLE TO JAVA.
traveller is scarcely satisfied with the beauties of
nature when he pays to mankind for creature
comforts which he fails to obtain. The most
agreeable feature of the journey to a stranger who
has, as it were, been Jong hemmed in by dense
jungles in the Peninsula, was certainly the long
stretches of open country reminding him of the
pasture lands and fields which fly past the train at
home. Cattle and ponies grazing complete the
illusion, and X. could scarcely refrain from
outspoken exclamations of delight.
It had been much impressed upon the traveller
that he must by all means obtain a room at the
Belle Vue Hotel, and if possible, one overlooking
50 the back which governs the famous view. This
was achieved by telegram. On arrival a carriage
with three ponies conveyed him to the hotel a
poor building on a lovely site, which bristled with
possibilities.
The famous back terrace of rooms was at the
further side of the courtyard to the entrance, and,
once duly installed, X. was delighted with the
outlook. Just immediately below the window
was the railway line below that rushed a large,
broad, shallow mountain river in which half the
native population seemed to be bathing. Beyond
these stretched an unbroken view of picturesque
villages, whose scattered red-roofed houses peeped
here and there from among the palms and other
graceful trees. Beyond again, the mountain
BUITENZORQ.
with five distinct sugar-loaf tops, tops which had
to be watched while counting as they emerged
and disappeared in turn from out and in the
hanging land of clouds. Yes, the view had
certainly not been overrated, and X. was glad he
came.
Usoof and Abu refused to consider anything
beautiful, and could only exclaim with horror at
the bathers in the river, who evidently shocked
their ideas of propriety. Their master was not
surprised at their comments, but his own views
were broader and his moral perceptions perhaps
blunter, and experience had taught him the
propriety of the injunction concerning Rome
and the Romans. But it was nevertheless quite 51
certain that the most moderate London County
Councillor could not have borne the sight of that
river without a shock to his system. After
revelling in the view from the verandah a black
coat was donned for dinner, which the wearer
subsequently found rendered him conspicuous,
and he then crossed the courtyard to the dining
room prepared to dine well off fresh fish, mutton,
and other products of the country. Although
the soup was on the table cooling, the company
sat outside round a little table drinking gin and
bitters. Not wanting any, X. as Clark Russell
would say, hung in the wind, and then after a
few seconds seeing that dinner was certainly
ready seated himself. This isolated action
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
rendered him almost as conspicuous as his coat,
which was also alone in its sombre glory.
Presently others followed the stranger's example,
and the meal began. Then ensued a period of
disillusion. There was no punkah, the glare of
the lamplight was blinding, and the food all
of it coarse, greasy and cold. The soup which
had been waiting was of the variety known as
tinned, an old acquaintance which X. had hoped
to have left in the jungle until his return. This,
and other messes, would not have mattered so
greatly, had not the proprietor of the hotel, a
pompous gentleman (X. afterwards learnt he was
President of the Race Club), stood sentry over
52 the door, whence issued the rows of servants with
the dishes, narrowly watching what each guest
partook of and detecting with an eagle eye the
uneatable scraps which the defeated diner had
striven to conceal beneath his knife and fork.
The most amusing thing during the progress of
the meal was the conversation of an elderly
English couple, who, in truly British tourist
fashion seemed to imagine they were alone, and
the people round them but figures of wax who
could neither hear nor be affected by anything
they might say. " Oh, how they soak the fish
in grease," the lady would exclaim ; or, " This
is good meat, but ruined, yes, positively ruined
in the cooking ; look, my dear, it is (doubtfully,
and sniffing at her plate), it is absolutely soaked
BUITENZORG.
in grease oh, what a pity, how can you eat it,
dear but you would eat anything," the speaker
continued garrulously, " for yesterday you ate
the fish on board that steamer when it was almost
rotten I smelt it from my cabin before we came
out, etc," and much more in the same strain. To
all these domestic remarks, her companion
vouchsafed no reply, but continued his dinner as
though accustomed to such an accompaniment.
It was as much as X. could do to refrain from
laughing, and, fearful of hurting the feelings
of others himself, he would take another helping
when the proprietor was looking, and felt
uncommonly " hot " at the conduct of his
compatriot. However, worse was to come, for 53
at the end of dinner, when the "boys" brought
coffee made in the way usual to the country a
few drops of cold essence of coffee at the bottom
of the cups, which had to be filled up with
boiling milk or water the lady from England
could not contain her indignation, but loudly
scolded the waiter for such a stingy way of
putting so little in the cup, since " coffee should
surely be cheap in Java," and then proceeded to
empty the contents of all the cups into two, one
for herself and one for her husband, while saying
with a smile " we like a cup of coffee, not a drop."
Then while she sipped her full cup like one on
whom there unwillingly dawns the unpleasant
consciousness of having made a mistake, the
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
lady further addressed the waiter and asked,
"Do they always drink cold coffee in Java? "
The waiter, who could only stand passive while
this calm robbery was committed for had not
the whole company to wait for a second brew
made reply with the only English of his
vocabulary, "yes." X., who had the doubtful
advantage of understanding as well as seeing all
that was going on, glared fiercely as he saw
himself deprived of the only portion of the meal
which was at all likely to be good, and could
willingly have caused an interruption by using
his napkin and bread as a sling and a stone.
The "yes" of the native apparently checked the
54 embarrassment which the lady was beginning to
feel, and triumphantly she exclaimed, " My good-
ness, what a country." Then the husband blew
his nose with discomfort, and, her attention
attracted, his good wife exclaimed, " My dear,
you have a cold, let us go to bed," and they
went. X., and possibly others, found satisfaction
in the thought that people might go to bed after
partaking of such a concoction as that couple
had done, but that they certainly would not
sleep. 'Nor did they, as the sequel showed. For
the lad}' and her husband also had a room on the
terrace suite, and this was divided only by a
thin partition from that of X., and though he did
not wish to listen, the first words which greeted
his gratified ears on the following morning were,
BUITENZORG.
" Oh, darling, I have had such a dreadful night ;
I never closed my eyes." X. heard no more as
he delicately buried his head in the pillows, lest
he should be dragged too deep in domestic
confidences ; but he had heard enough he was
avenged. And they knew themselves it was the
coffee, since it was noticed that this night after
dinner the sleepless couple each firmly declined
the brimming cups, which, with kind forethought
for the public good, the proprietor had ordered to
be handed to them.
55
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
CHAPTER X.
CUSTOMS AND COSTUMES.
EARLY in the morning X. went out to explore,
and, naturally, his first visit was to those wonder-
ful gardens which are the first in the world, and
are the resort of naturalists from all portions of
56 the globe.
In a sketch of this nature it would be pre-
sumption to attempt to describe the marvels of
this garden, one of the sights of the East, which
it is worth while going to Java to see. During
his walk the traveller was at every turn
astonished at the evidences of wealth amongst
the natives, the tiled roofed houses and plentifully
stocked orchards and gardens, while goats and
sheep browsed everywhere. In the streets
everyone appeared to be selling there seemed
none left to buy and they sold the most
attractive looking fruits and vegetables, together
with a variety of flowers. The population is
large, and for some distance round the town
stretched rows and rows of native houses built
CUSTOMS AND COSTUMES.
close together, backs and fronts facing each
other in every angle and position, showing that
the people must surely live together in unity, en
famille or rather en masse, in marked contrast to
the Malay villages, where, as a rule, each house
stands in an enclosure of its own grounds. But
there they have unlimited space, here apparently
they have unlimited people.
Himself living an isolated life amongst a native
race, it was only natural that X. should be more
inclined than the ordinary traveller to notice the
people of the country and their surroundings.
He had heard so many stories of their oppres-
sion by the Dutch and the uncomfortable
conditions under which they lived, that the 57
actual appearance of the natives came as a
surprise, which only increased the more he saw
and the further he travelled in Java.
As to higher life in Java, to any one who
has been there or knows anything of the country,
its social conditions are well known. But
however much may have been previously heard
of them, it cannot but give the ordinary English-
man a shock, when he is for the first time
confronted with them in their reality. Inter-
marriage with the people of the country is not
only condoned, but almost encouraged, and it is
no uncommon thing to meet the children of these
marriages in the highest society. Cases occur
where people, holding great positions, legitimize
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
their children, and after years of unsolemnized
intercourse lead their mother to the altar. The
mothers of many children being educated in
Holland, probably in the future to enter the
service of the country, are simply native women
still living in their villages. The accident of
birth would seldom be considered a bar when
ascending official heights, nor is a mixed
parentage any obstacle to such distinction.
Many instances of this were observed by X.
during his visit, and, though the state of affairs
appeared to him rather strange, he was obliged
to own that from a Dutch point of view there
existed many and weighty arguments in its
favour, the pros and cons of such a question are
certainly beyond the scope of a book which only
purports to note for the benefit of intending
travellers such things as merit observation.
So far as I can gather, there were few excur-
sions to be made from Buitenzorg and few
sights, but in the afternoon he drove to see a
famous stone covered with Hindoo inscriptions,
the first indication brought to his notice of the
real origin of this now Mahommedan people.
Late in the day X. decided to call upon the
official who holds the position corresponding with
that of an English Colonial Secretary, and to
ask his assistance in obtaining a pass to continue
his journey into the interior. Though warned
not to call before 7 p.m., just as it was getting
CUSTOMS AND COSTUMES.
dusk, the traveller felt nervous and fidgety, unable
to really believe that he would be doing right to
make a call so late, and thus six o'clock found
him approaching the very modest-looking dwelling
in which the great official dwelt. A glance was
enough to show that he was wrong and his
informant right, since in front of him, at a desk
in a room off the verandah, sat his host still
clothed in the undress of pyjamas not having
yet made his toilet for the evening. However,
though X. felt guilty of a gaucherie, the sense of
it came entirely from his own consciousness, and
not at all from the manner of the gentleman
whom he interrupted, for without the least trace
of either annoyance or surprise, but as though 59
the untimely appearance of a stranger and a
foreigner was a daily occurrence, he bade him
welcome with polite cordiality. This official
was as agreeable and well informed as anyone the
traveller had met, and X. always waxes enthusi-
astic when speaking of him. With true courtesy
he at once abandoned the work on which he was
engaged, without that last lingering look at the
table which so often ruins the grace of a similar
sacrifice, and forthwith evinced the utmost
interest in the affairs of his guest. He quickly
reassured him concerning his pass, and, on
hearing that he was in some way connected with
the Government across the Straits, immediately
promised to procure for him a special permit
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
which would enable him to travel where he would,
and ensure assistance from all with whom he
came in contact. Though, at this time relying
upon his own ability to manage the order of his
going, X. may not have attached much importance
to the future part which this permit would play,
at the end of his travels he gladly acknowledged
that it proved of the utmost utility, and there
was more than one occasion on which he felt
impelled to record words of gratitude towards
him who had so thoughtfully provided it.
Apropos of the calling hour, it may be men-
tioned here that this is a social rock on which
many English people strike. I use this nautical
60 simile advisedly since, not so very long ago, no
less a person than a British Admiral wishing to
follow the hours to which he was accustomed
paid his official call on the Dutch Naval Com-
mander at five o'clock. The Dutch Admiral,
who was not then dressed, and did not intend to
dress until seven o'clock, declined to receive him
at such an unusual hour, and the question of dress,
always one of the first importance in the British
Navy, then became rather a burning one, until
tactful mediators paved the way for a more
successful visit. Whereas, in the East, English
people maintain their usual habits and customs
did not our grandfathers wear tall hats when
pig-sticking in India ? the Dutch in Java adopt
the habits and the clothes they consider most
CUSTOMS AND COSTUMES.
fitting for the climate. It is not intended to
imply that both are loose, though certainly the
former are somewhat relaxed. No visitor to the
country is competent to give a judgment for or
against the manners he finds there. X. longed
to impress this on more than one tourist whom
he met on his travels.
Few Dutch ladies in Java mind being seen in
what to us appears undress a sarong and kabaya
and frequently, when without guests, it is the
custom to dine in this scanty apparel. In conse-
quence there is a dislike to dining out, which
involves the wearing of European clothes in all
their fashionable tightness, and many a story is
told in Batavia of sudden illness amongst lady 61
guests during the evening illness easily attribut-
able to the unusual compression of garments,
worn only on such rare occasions.
There is seldom necessity for dressing since
Europeans scarcely ever call in Java of ladies
it may be said they never call though in the
mornings they drive round in covered carriages
visiting their intimate friends, clad in the skirts
of the country so universally adopted.
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
CHAPTER XL
AN UNTIMELY CALL.
IT was this same custom which caused discomfiture
to X. on the following day, when having received
the promised special permit, a document calling
upon all officials to assist him, in the name of the
62 Governor-General himself, he decided that it
would be only right that he should present himself
at the house of the ruler who had signed it, and
in token of gratitude and respect inscribe his name
in his book. As the traveller had no intention of
seeing anyone or attempting to enter the gorgeous
palace which stands in the midst of the famous
gardens, there seemed no need to trouble about
the time for the call, and therefore it seemed well
to make it the excuse for a walk and fit it in with
his afternoon stroll. Accordingly about 5 o'clock
found him walking up the broad avenue, on either
side of which were browsing deer in great
numbers a very novel feature to anyone who for
years had only seen such creatures wild excepting
one time when but no I must withhold the
AN UNTIMELY CALL.
temptation to wander off the broad avenue which
leads the visitor up to the stately pile in front of
him as, like he did a little further on, I would wish
to get it over. For it is not pleasant even to
record the admittedly awkward situations in which
X., who had always prided himself on his savoir
faire, now so often found himself.
As he approached the portico (it reminded him
much of Gorhambury, the seat of Lord Verulam,
in Hertfordshire) the stranger became aware,
rather than actually saw, that there were two
figures seated on the main verandah having tea.
He almost felt their eyes upon him in wonder and
amusement, and, as he gradually neared the steps
without in any way looking up, it was in some 63
mysterious manner conveyed to him that these
figures were ladies, and their dress, the sarong and
kabaya ! What was he to do. He could not turn
and fly, nor could he diverge from the broad path
and wander across the grass like any common
trespasser and, even while he wondered, his steps
took him deliberately on, feeling self-conscious in
the most literal understanding of the word and
inexorably each moment took him nearer, though
in the endeavour to put off the evil moment he
had, perhaps unknown to himself, slowed down his
previously deliberate saunter until his feet were
now doing little more than marking slow time.
However, the visitor gazed alternately at the tops
of the trees and the roof of the palace, as though
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
things of absorbing interest were there taking
place, and at last he was obliged to realize
that he had reached the lowest step of the
imposing staircase.
X. assures me that it is a fact, he never once
lowered his eyes or focussed the little party before
him, although ultimately the tea table could not
have been more than a few yards off. There
stood the stranger with a vacant expression which
would have made the fortune of a performer in a
waxwork show, and hoped and almost prayed that
a servant of some kind would appear, receive his
signature or his card and allow him to return to
the comfortless obscurity of his hotel. There was
no bell, and no servant came, and the silence at"
length became unbearable. Relief came at last
from the tea party for the voice of a lady suddenly
fairly shrieked for a " boy." After this explosion
the tension of the situation was relieved, and there
was a sound as of chairs hastily pushed back and
the patter of little feet and the rustle of sarongs,
which led X. to infer that there had been some
sort of a retreat. Then a flurried native appeared,
he seemed a kind of gardener hastily fetched from
his duties, possibly the mowing machine, and
pouring forth words in a strange dialect he pointed
wildly to another flight of steps and another door.
Following this menial, a veritable deus ex machina,
X. was led down those palatial steps and up
another flight round the corner. There the
AN UNTIMELY CALL.
gardener threw open a door and seemed disposed
to resign his custody of the stranger, preparing to
return again to his machine. But X. steadily
declined to enter alone into that vast hall, nor
would he even stay to look for a book in which to
write his name, for he felt that the hasty retreat
he had heard was not carried beyond the nearest
pillars, and each moment he tarried, the fugitives
were wondering what he could be doing while,
alas, their tea was getting cold. And so he thrust
his card, his only guarantee of good faith, into
the soiled hand of the solitary attendant of this
Eastern palace and fled but fled he hoped with
dignity. As he walked down the avenue with
conscious and deliberate steps admiring the view 65
on the right of him and the view on the left of
him never looking back, though the desire for
one glance was so overpowering that the nape of
his neck actually ached, he conquered, and finally
emerged from those great gates without any
further satisfaction to the curiosity aroused by his
first involuntary glimpse. But so long as he
remained in Java he never paid another call before
dusk, a more convenient time, when such con-
tretemps are not likely to occur.
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
CHAPTER XII.
A MODEL ESTATE.
X. WAS informed that the proper journey from
Buitenzorg was by carriage via Poentjuk to
Sindanglaya, where a stay should be made at
Gezondleid's establishment after securing an
66 upstairs room. The next stage in the traveller's
journey is to Tjandjoer and thence to Garvet.
And after a week at Garvet on again to Djoedja,
Solo, Semarang, etc., but the traveller had already
had sufficient of hotel life in Java, and so de-
termined to at once avail himself of a kind
invitation he had received to stay on an estate,
not many miles from Soekaboemi. After a few
hours' rail in a first-class carriage (this fact is
worth recording as it was very seldom that such
accommodation could be had, even if a first-class
ticket had been issued), he duly reached the
station where he had been instructed to alight.
Here his host had sent two ponies to meet him,
one for himself and one for his servant, as well as
several coolies to carry his luggage. So, Abu
A MODEL ESTATE.
being left at the house of the stationmaster in
care of the rest of the luggage (a terrible quantity,
the cost of its transport almost equalled the first-
class fare of its owner), X., followed by Usoof,
started on the ten mile ride which led to their
destination. The path was a very rough one, and
for the first portion of the distance the way was
through an open country planted with padi as far
as the eye could reach. The little ponies cared
nothing for the stony path, and went gamely
along as though accustomed to canter on a hard
high road. After crossing the valley the route
began to ascend the range of hills, at the summit
of which, 2,000 feet high, the estate was situated.
For almost the entire length of this ascent the 67
view was so glorious that the traveller continued
to exclaim in wonder to his companion to stop
and look. Usoof who, as has been related, was a
native of the country, affected to gaze at it with
the unconcern of a proprietor, merely reminding
his master that he had always said, that his was a
very fine country. For miles below the padi
fields stretched away narrowing in the distance,
and here and there amidst this expanse of emerald
green were dotted little clumps of green of a
darker shade, these being the trees surrounding
the clusters of houses inhabited by the fortunate
owners of the land. And every now and again
athwart the green carpet, stretched out below,
glittered belts of water sparkling like silver in the
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
sun. The hills, which were also all planted with
padi, looked like grassy slopes with a background
formed by terraces of hill-tops. One above the
other they lay in ranges, until, in the furthest
distance, mountains of noble height towered like
giants above them all. It surely was a view
worth going far to see, a wealth of green such as
an un travelled eye could not even dimly realise.
No troubles of travel, no greasy cookery or
breadless meals could matter one jot if this was
the reward. The view repaid the enterprise even
if the path by which it were approached led only
to a wayside inn of the most unpretentious type,
but its joys were enhanced by the anticipation of
68 a visit to a couple well known for their hospitality
to strangers. The host being a fellow-countryman
who had had the good fortune to marry a Dutch
lady of most distinguished family. Almost at the
summit of the hill, about eight miles from the
station, stood a little halting house bearing the
English-looking signboard with the legend of the
" Pig and Whistle." Here refreshments awaited
the travellers, and then the journey was continued
along a jungle path which shortly emerged on to
the cultivated slopes of the estate. These slopes
were covered with cinchona trees, which X.
afterwards learnt were in process of being rapidly
replaced by tea-plants. Presently at a dip in the
road the first glimpse was caught of the house
below. A little English cottage, it appeared,
A MODEL ESTATE.
nestling cosily in a hollow, close beside a mountain
stream. A nearer approach revealed that the
cottage was covered with blue convolvulus and
other creepers, and that the verandahs were
enclosed with glass. It all reminded him some-
how of a well-known cottage by Boulter's Lock,
and there came a curious thrill of home memories
at the sight of a typical English home. On the
further side of the stream stood a little detached
pavilion, kept exclusively for guests, after the
fashion of all Dutch houses in the East. This
annexe is generally considered the house of the
elder son, but it is more usually built and used
for the accommodation of guests ; an excellent
arrangement in a country where both entertainers 69
and entertained wish occasionally to repose in
attire, whose lightness is best suited to the climate.
A rustic bridge connected the two buildings, and
just above it was the bath room, into which a
portion of the stream had been diverted, so as to
form a natural shower bath. The stream and
bridge and cottage, with their back-ground of
hills and fore-ground of roses, combined to make
such a picture that X. longed to be able to sketch
it and take it away and keep it. The interior of
this cottage was as cosy and home-like as the
outside promised it would be, and, wonder of
wonders ! it had real wall paper on the walls.
This almost unheard of luxury in the East was a
triumph of the skill of the hostess, and had so far
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
successfully defied the ravages of mildew and
damp. The chief characteristic of the house was
that it looked like a home, its tasteful decoration
and contents indicating that the inhabitants had
come to stay. Most houses in the East have an
unmistakeable air of being mere temporary
shelters, where the owners are lodging till they
can get away to their household goods now ware-
housed "at home."
This was only the second house X. had seen in
this part of the world, where the owners looked
as if they lived in it (the other was in Selangor).
In this ideal spot it was the good fortune of the
traveller to spend some days days pleasantly
70 spent in riding about the estate which he soon
grew to covet, and in watching the planting of
the tea, which, it was hoped, would eventually
enable the kind host and hostess to return with
wealth to their native land. The climate at this
elevation was delightful, cool, and invigorating,
and it was possible to follow English hours and
habits. Instead of getting up at 5 a.m. to go for
a ride, as was the custom in Pura Pura, X. found
himself starting for a ride after breakfast, about
ten o'clock, without fear of the sun, and this total
change lifted his spirits, and he recorded silent
thanks to The Community who had suggested
Java for his jaunt.
As may be imagined, during his stay in the
hills the visitor was able to learn much about the
A MODEL ESTATE.
country, and hear many things that not only
interested him, but excited his admiration for the
administration of the precise and order-loving
race who owned this beautiful island. Contrary
to what he had been led to believe, chiefly, per-
haps, by a book which had given currency to the
impression, he found that the planters were
greatly assisted by the Government officials, who
endeavour to work with them, and, whenever
possible, to meet their wishes. The coolies
certainly all appeared happy, when X. got
accustomed to seeing them crouch servilely in the
ditches when he or his host passed by. English
officials in the native states of the Peninsula are
accustomed to pass their lives amongst the 71
Malays, to listen to and help them in their
troubles, and to be constantly surrounded by them
as followers or companions, and the inmates and
affairs of each household are known, much as
those of the cottagers on his estate would be to a
home-staying country squire in England. It can
then be understood how strange it seemed to X.
to ride amongst people of the same race and see
them crouch down as he passe'd, not even daring
to lift their eyes, as it is counted an offence should
they meet the gaze of one of the ruling race.
What could the latter really know of these people,
he wondered, when knowledge had to be obtained
from across/ such a social gulf as this. He could
not conceal the disagreeable impression made
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
upon him, but many reasons were afterwards
given to him as to why this state of things
should exist, and some of them were, he was
compelled to admit, good ones. The chief and
foremost was, perhaps, that all Javanese customs
and manners are full of exaggerated formality and
etiquette. These the Dutch adopted as they found
them, including all outward tokens of respect for
those of superior rank, deeming that all Euro-
peans should be treated with the same ceremony
as the native headman.
One of the other reasons given was that the
Dutch, being a small nation and unable to keep
a large force in the country, must rely upon
72 keeping the natives down in their proper place
under foot for the continuance of the supremacy
they had achieved. X., as others would do, can
only hope that this view, though heard from
several sources, was given to him " sarcastic
like," and that it was expected he would duly
appreciate the irony. And perhaps he did, seeing
that he came from a country where, without the
presence of a single soldier, the widely scattered,
and in many cases isolated, officials can act as the
friends and advisers of a native race without the
least fear of any loss of dignity or position, both
accepted as so much a matter of course as to
make any question regarding them impossible.
Java is, perhaps, the most governed country in
the world. This phrase is not the writer's; he
A MODEL ESTATE.
merely quotes an opinion to be found in books on
Java, written by men entitled to judge, and
frequently expressed by people our traveller met
in that island. The people are united by what
might be described as chains of officials, and
each link in each chain submits periodically
precise reports on everything and everybody
within his charge. The system sounds flawless,
and the head of all, the chief official in the
country, has thus pigeon-holed in front of him
more detailed and readily-found information about
his subjects than is, perhaps, possessed by any
other ruler in the world. This is a matter which
might excite admiration, and there is no doubt
that it in some respects merits it, and the 73
contrast presented to our own system of govern-
ment in the adjacent mainland is worthy of
examination. But it would be out of place in a
book which professes to do no more than describe
a pleasant tour, and X.'s opinion upon a question
of such gravity, even though formed after a
lengthy sojourn amongst the Malays, and no
little personal experience of the life and manners
of an Eastern people, may be omitted. It may
be recorded, however, that the question made
him ponder, and he wondered if the officials who
knew everybody also knew everything, and
whether many matters worthy of record did
not find themselves washed on one side as the
stream of reports wound its way from one native
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
official to another, then to the subordinate
European officials (sometimes married to native
women), and then once more on to the pigeon-
holes of the central authority. As I write I have
before me a list of fifteen titles of native officials
given to X. by one of themselves. There is no
need to enumerate them here, though allusion to
them may suggest the possibilities of the various
stages of the journey to the final pigeon-holes.
Natives themselves have evidently formed
opinions on these matters, since in some of the
native states of the Peninsula it was always the
custom of the people to invite a raja from another
country to come and rule over them, experience
74 having taught them that a man with interest and
relations in the country might not always be
sufficiently impartial ; in the same manner the
native Mahommedan priest is always selected
from another nationality. However, to return to
the place where we left X. riding along amongst
the young tea plants. When the coolies were not
running away from him or crouching to avoid
the shock of meeting his imperial glance, he was
bound to admit that they were apparently happy
and contented, and, seeing the circumstances
under which they lived, it would have been strange
had they not been so. These people were pro-
vided with ample work within easy reach of their
homes, which lay among the surrounding hills. It
seemed an earthly labour paradise to an official,
A MODEL ESTATE.
accustomed to hear the complaints of planters
lamenting losses due to their labourers, imported
coolies from India, China or Java, running away.
Not only is the lot of the coolies in Java more
conducive to content than those in the Peninsula,
but the planter is also happier in the current rate
of wages ; 20 to 25 cents a day (Java cents)
and for women 15 cents. On this estate, as on
most others, there was a festival fund for the
coolies, that is a certain sum of money is spent
annually on their recreation, providing for musical
instruments and paying for travelling shows, etc.
X. felt that he had had the best of shows provided
for him, a show estate, where the supply of labour
was cheap and unlimited, and the people well 75
cared for without any elaborate legislation being
required for their protection. Here at any rate
was a positive result of the administration of
the Dutch, and a confutation of the stories of
down-trodden peasants in Java ; and the traveller
made up his mind that if possible he would one
day be a planter and that his plantation should
be in Java.
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
CHAPTER XIII.
AMONG THE ROSES.
LIFE was so smooth and even in this little
cottage by the river that days flew by with that
pleasant rapidity which leaves nothing to record
except a general sense of restful enjoyment.
76 One expedition, however, might be described, a
visit paid to a neighbouring estate which had
been advertised for sale, as giving a glimpse of
a typical phase of up-country life. The call
was paid about noon, and after riding down a
steep hill, where natives were busily engaged in
planting tea, the two Englishmen came upon a
little square white house half hidden in a bend
in the stream. This building had a deserted,
untidy look which was intensified by the state of
the garden which surrounded it; even at some
distance from the house the scent of roses was
perceptible, and in the garden itself, if such a
wilderness deserves the name, the odour was
almost overpowering. The place was a miniature
forest of rose-bushes, loaded with lovely blossoms,
AMONG THE ROSES.
roses such as X. had not seen since he left his
native land. Everything looked untidy and
ragged and ruined ; the house, the creepers, the
rose bushes, the grass, the pigeon lofts all spoke
of neglect and want of money to put them
straight, a want caused by the fall in the price of
cinchona, a misfortune which had involved many
a fair estate and reduced it to the desolate and
unkempt condition exemplified by the one now
visited. But even unkempt and uncared for, what
a picture it made ! It was the realisation of a
poetic death the victim smothered by roses
beside the singing waters of a brook. It was a
long time before any one came, and the two
visitors sat in the verandah feeling rather shy and 77
uncomfortable, for this was the neighbour's first
visit, and the native, who had ushered them in,
vanished, sending weird cries around the tangled
garden paths as though to summon his master
home.
At length, after long waiting, the silence and
suspense, and the wonder of who would come,
from which direction, and when, grew almost
unbearable, and the absurd situation so wrought
on their nerves that both visitors gave vent to
little gasps of laughter, brought on probably by
the same nervous sensations which compel children
to misbehave in church direct promptings
of the evil one, inducing a desire to do that
which we know we should not do. At length,
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
after it had been debated in hurried whispers
whether a departure could not be effected, the
lady of the house appeared upon the scene. She
was a tall, large lady, in appearance typically
Dutch. She wore the usual white linen jacket
and skimpy sarong, and her legs were bare.
She gave a cordial greeting in Dutch, at least to
X. it was Dutch, for he knew nothing whatever
of the language. This his friend carefully
explained, so he surmised, as the lady gave vent
to various guttural exclamations of astonishment
and turned to gaze at him as though he were
indeed a strange person to behold.
The conversation between the two then con-
78 tinued glibly, and X. was quite forgotten, and he
felt neglected and grew fidgety, realizing that he
extremely disliked this novel sensation of being
ignored, without the possibility of attracting any
attention to himself by a remark. He was soon
to learn however, that those trifling incon-
veniences of which we are cognizant are generally
less unpleasant than those we do not know, for
presently there was a stir and a general rising
from seats as the husband of the good lady
emerged from the house on to the verandah.
This gentleman was tall and dark, with a pointed
grey beard like an American in a caricature. He
was clothed in a strange deshabille, which ended in
bare feet thrust loosely into carpet slippers, and
when the eyes of the visitors reached thus far they
AMONG THE ROSES.
realized why his complexion was so dark. After
the first greetings the host who X. afterwards
learnt had once held high office under Govern-
ment, which he gave up for planting turned
towards him and proceeded to harangue him
without full stops. There is no other way to
describe what took place, as he continued to pour
language at his guest without the least apparent
desire for reply. To say that the visitor felt
uncomfortable would be to mildly describe his
feelings he had wished for recognition, and surely
had it now. What would his host think of him,
if he allowed him to continue to talk and never
informed him that he could not understand one
word of Dutch ? Again and again he endeavoured 79
to stem the torrent of words and explain both in
English and in French, and this being of no avail,
at the risk of appearing rude and inattentive, X.
turned to his friend and begged him to make the
matter clear. The friend said something in
Dutch, but he must, it seemed, have said the
wrong thing, since it had not the slightest effect,
and the host continued his talk, probably all
about the advantages of the estate he wished to
sell. Then, regarding the situation as hopeless, X.
fixed his expression into one of intelligent atten-
tion and waited for him to stop. But he was not
so attentive that he did not presently hear the good
lady say something to his friend which caused
him to exclaim as though astonished, and with a
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
suppressed click of a laugh he turned to X. and
said, " It's all right. Madame has just told me he
is stone deaf and can't hear a word, so it's no use
my saying anything, he would understand you as
well." " But can't the lady tell him I don't know
Dutch ? " exclaimed X. almost desperately but
too late, for by this time his friend was again
deeply engaged in conversation with his hostess,
and there was nothing to be done but once more
give his assumed attention to his host. A pleasant
situation truly, to go to a man's house for the
first time and so conduct yourself that you feel
certain he will presently believe that it was your
intention to deliberately insult and make a fool of
80 him. X. will never forget that quarter of an hour.
At last the conversation ended by its appearing
that the lady had suggested, and her visitor
agreed to, a walk round the estate. When he
gathered this, X. eagerly seconded the proposition,
but it took all joy out of it to find that the
verbose proprietor insisted upon accompanying
them himself to do the honours of the place. It
was in vain that X. endeavoured to plant him on
his friend, for his prolonged assumption of intelli-
gent interest had apparently been so successful,
that his host was flattered and never left his side.
However, a few climbs up slippery by-paths
I fear deliberately chosen soon dislodged the
slippers, and the poor man was compelled to
heed what, it is hoped, he interpreted as polite
AMONG THE ROSES.
entreaties not to put himself out for his visitors
and return to the house. Then ensued a tour of
the estate, which had once been of great promise
and now, alas, was overrun with undergrowth and
weed. After their walk the Englishmen found
that the most hospitable preparations had been
made for their entertainment, and, more, that
these had evidently been seen to by a daughter
whose presence had not before been observed.
Would I could describe this young girl as she
appeared to X., who has confessed that he found
it quite impossible to find words with which to
paint a picture which could do her the scantiest
justice. Simply attired in the same costume as
her mother, but oh, how becoming that costume 81
can be ! This charming apparition carried round
the glasses and offered wine to the visitors, while
X. wished heartily that the dear old host would
harangue him ever so long that he might keep
silence and watch watch this dainty, dark-eyed
maiden, who looked as if she had stepped out of
some old picture to render those little domestic
services after the custom of days gone by ; and
as he received his glass from the charming atten-
dant, he endeavoured to think what it was this
kindly service most called to mind, and in his
memory he found it in those hospitable houses in
New Zealand beyond the Bay of Islands where
once he visited, and all the daily life was like a
glimpse of a century that had passed. But
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
though visiting was good, X. was soon wanting
to improve his position and show that he was
capable of taking a more active part in the
conversation than he had hitherto done, and so
reckless of his host's disgust at a sudden lack of
attention, he rose and went to the side table to
sniff at the beautiful flowers and peep at the
sample sacks of coffee which lay piled in the
corner of the room. But such little wiles to
obtain speech with the modest maiden were of
small use, when one party spoke English and the
other Dutch, while neither of them knew both.
It is true that X. could have carried on a conver-
sation in Malay, and he was sure that that
82 language would be well known to all the family,
but he had been warned that people in Java did
not like to be addressed in a language they consi-
dered fit only for a medium of communication
with their servants. An invitation to stay and
lunch was refused in Dutch and the planter
friend afterwards explained that he had done so,
as he thought X. would not have liked to go
without bread, since in such establishments up
country bread was never found. As if under the
circumstances X. would have cared whether he
ate bread or rice, provided the rose-nymph had
handed it to him ; and so alas ! they rode away
beyond the fragrance of the roses and through the
neglected grounds, carrying with them a new
memory of home life which it will be hard to
AMONG THE RO5E5.
forget. The shabby, neglected house the sacks
of coffee and flowers run riot the deaf, courteous
ex-official, perhaps proud of his descent from
some great Makassar chief the kindly lady,
embodiment of perfect health, who long ago had
left her home in Europe for life in a distant land
with the husband of her choice and last but not
least of all these impressions of that day their
child reared in a glorious country unspoilt by
contact with civilization simple, unaffected, a
picture from the past.
83
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
CHAPTER XIV.
GARVET.
AFTER leaving the cottage on the estate X. started
for Garvet. The view from the train, as it
reached its destination, was certainly one of the
most beautiful that could be imagined. Long
reaches of padi fields, backed by hills in a high
*"* state of cultivation, and the whole watered by
little gushing torrents that looked cool and
refreshing in the all-surrounding sun.
It is impossible to describe the scenery as it
appeared to the traveller, or in any way to do it
justice. It is altogether new and unlike anything
seen in other countries, with the exception,
perhaps, of Ceylon or Japan, and it is worth a
journey from Europe to see.
The hotel at Garvet proved to be a combination
of little buildings, scattered about in the gardens
surrounding the main buildings, or across the
road in enclosures of their own. X. obtained one
of these cottages, and felt that he would be fairly
comfortable, till an inspection of the bathing
arrangements made him shudder.
GARVET.
When dinner time arrived, table d'hote also
served to dispel illusions. There was the same
absence of punkah, the same glaring light, and
succession of half-cooked clammy dishes. There
were only a few diners, apparently mostly
residents of the place who boarded at the hotel.
These gentlemen had put on black coats, and made
a kind of toilet for the evening meal. But the
penance they thus endured was brief, as, after
hastily disposing of sufficient of the viands to
satisfy their individual wants, they retired to
their verandahs, where X. soon saw them reclin-
ing in all the comfort of pyjamas and bare feet.
Apparently the coating of civilization was not
sufficiently thin to be congenial.
In the morning the traveller went to pay his
respects to the Assistant-Resident, who received
him very kindly, and gave him all the informa-
tion he required. This rather interrupted the
work of the office as, whenever the Assistant -
Resident turned to any employee to ask how
far such and such a place might be distant, or
the tariff of carriages, etc., the person so
addressed, no matter how engaged, would, before
reply, immediately flop on to his knees. The
Regent was also calling on the representative of
the Government, and to him the Englishman was
introduced. This native functionary was fat and
well-looking, but did not seem to exactly bristle
with intelligence.
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
The Assistant-Resident very kindly conversed
freely with his visitor about matters affecting the
natives, and gave him much information, which,
from the nature of his own work in Pura Pura,
interested him greatly. To those whom the
subject interests, the land system in Java is too
well known to need comment here, but there were
a few facts learnt by X. which should remove
any idea amongst those who have not studied the
question, that the laws were either harsh or
intricate. Indeed, they seem to attain that
brevity and simplicity which are the great
desideratum when dealing with a native
peasantry. Thus, a man need pay no rent until
86 his land is in bearing. Coffee is the only product
whose sale to Government is compulsory. All
land is classified and subject to a fixed rent, there
is therefore a safeguard that the fruits of an
owner's industry will not be taxed. Anyone can
complain if he thinks his land is rated too high,
and should be in a lower class, and the complaint
receives immediate attention. Though the
population is large, there is seldom any trouble
about boundary marks in the padi fields. Owners
are content with long custom and local knowledge,
and their reliance on their host of native officials
never fails. All new land must be fenced round,
if it is contiguous to Government land, and on all
plantations people must themselves plant trees as
boundaries and upkeep them. And one register of
GARVET.
titles with columns filled in and signed, according
to its cultivation and classification, answers for
all. Lastly, let it be mentioned that there is a
golden rule, that a native cannot sell his land
to anyone but his own countrymen, neither to
European, Arab or Chinese. Thus no individual,
tempted by the speculation, can by his selfish
action, cause harm or annoyance to his neighbours.
This one register of titles, mentioned above, is
gradually rilled in and signed as the land is brought
into cultivation, and an exact record is thus kept of
the actual present condition of each native hold-
ing. When finally signed, and the land yields
produce, rent is demanded. The advantage of
simplicity can only be realized by those whose lot 87
it has been to pose as the bringer of glad tidings,
and expound the advantages of the last new
land code with its many paragraphs to an
ignorant native population, who, unreasoning,
tenaciously cling to the title which they already
hold and think they understand, obstinately
refusing, speak the speaker never so plausibly,
to exchange it for the very newest that can
be given to them from the most up-to-date land
code in existence.
After his interview with the courteous official,
X. departed, pondering on all he had heard, and
bearing with him a memo, on which was written
the various places of interest which he had been
recommended to visit in the neighbourhood. On
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
his return to the hotel the traveller passed what
appeared to be the local club.
The first thing an English official in an out-
station in India or the Peninsula will do for a
stranger arriving with introductions, is to offer to
put him up for the club, and unless there seem
strong reason against it, he will most probably
ask him to dinner. Apparently this was not the
custom here, and so X. was free to wander about
the little town and explore, with nothing more
exciting to look forward to than a repetition of
last night's gruesome meal in company with
the suffering tenants of the prandial coats.
88
BATHS AND VOLCANOES.
CHAPTER XV.
BATHS AND VOLCANOES.
GARVET seemed to boast of an enormous popu-
lation for there were endless rows, or rather
groups of houses, crowded together, face to face,
back to back, and side by side, giving the idea of
a casual conglomeration of several villages. All
these were scrupulously clean and neat, and fenced 89
round with little bamboo rails. Nearly every
house had a tiled roof, and all were of a superior
class to the majority of those up country in the
Peninsula. The streets were little short of
marvellously swept and clean, and it was decided
by X. during that walk that Garvet was the
cleanest Eastern town he had ever seen the
capital of Pura Pura of course excepted. Much
had been talked of about the hot baths at Tji Panao,
and so the traveller determined to make that his
first excursion. Hiring a conveyance drawn by
three ponies abreast reminding him of his early
youth when he would wonder at a smart turn-out
in the Park at home three ponies abreast driven
by a well known leader of society and fashion,
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
before the days of two-wheeled pony carts and
bicycles, X. told the driver to go to Tji Panao,
and looked forward to spending a delicious half
hour lying in warm water like that of the springs
in New Zealand, which send the bather forth invigo-
rated and refreshed. Another disillusion was in
store for him, however, in this country where nature
has done so much and man for comfort so little.
The baths were located in a shed on the side of a
hill. This shed had three partitions. In each
partition was a shallow brick hole in which it was
possible to sit. The hot water was conveyed into
these holes by means of pipes, one at the head of
each. The floor all round the bath was dirty, and
90 the only furniture was one cane chair. The depth
of the water in the baths was about three inches,
and in this on slimy bricks the bather had to sit
miserably, with the lower portion of his body
immersed in warm water while the upper
remained high and dry in the comparatively cool
air above. X. had made preparations for a
prolonged stay in the water, and came provided
with literature to pass the time, but a very brief
dip under the circumstances proved enough, and
he soon unhitched his clothing from the back of
the chair and prepared to depart. Close by these
baths was a building containing four rooms,
apparently a Government Rest House, very well
furnished and comfortable, so it was evident that
people came there on purpose to make use of the
BATHS AND VOLCANOES.
baths. The hot water springs possess great
capabilities, and with a little trouble and expen-
diture of money they should become both
enjoyable and a source of revenue.
There were one or two other excursions to be
made from Garvet, but the only one worthy of
mention was that which was made to the volcano
at Tjiseroepan. One morning, together with
Usoof and Abu, for X. was growing tired of sight
seeing all alone, having obtained permission from
the kind Assistant-Resident to use the Government
Rest House, he drove to Tjiseroepan. The road
was excellent and the route, needless to say, lay
through a beautiful country. Here, as everywhere
else, all well-to-do natives were riding ponies. The
distance was thirteen miles. Tjiseroepan is a little
village in the hills at the foot of the mountain
which it was proposed to ascend on the following
day. The traveller was received by the Assistant
Wodena, a native official who had been riding
suspiciously behind and before the carriage during
the last two miles. After reading the credentials
of the stranger and finding that he could converse
in Malay, the local magnate became quite cordial,
and made X. free of the Government Rest House.
This was well furnished with beds and tables, etc.,
but glass and crockery were not provided.
The Assistant Wodena conducted the visitor
round the village, which was a model of neatness.
Each house stood in a garden, growing coffee,
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
vegetables, and strawberries. The head of the
village and a few others live in very good houses,
and there seemed to be ponies without number.
The village perched on a slope and the cultivated
hillside bore some resemblance to a scene in the
South of Italy. The usual signs of prosperity and
content reigned everywhere, and neither in this
village, nor elsewhere, where X. conversed with
the natives could he find anything to explain the
commonly accepted view that the people of Java
are inimical to their rulers.
The Rest House proved comfortable, X. had
brought his own provisions, which his servants
cooked, and for once he enjoyed a hot and
92 palatable meal. There was plenty of opportunity
for conversation with the Assistant Wodena, who
was quite willing to discourse on the customs of the
country, and he gave a most interesting account
of the elaborate etiquette of Javanese Rajas, and
of the extraordinary deference paid by commoners
to rank. He in his turn asked many questions
concerning Malacca and the Malay Straits, about
which his interlocutor was able to give him all the
information sought for.
The next morning the sightseer and his
followers ascended the mountain on ponies to see
the volcano. This was a kind of inferno with
wicked mouths which looked like ventilators from
the bowels of the earth spitting and hissing
blinding steam.
BATHS AND VOLCANOES.
The whole face of the mountain was yellow
with sulphur, and the air was sickening from its
smell. Usoof and Abu were not a little terrified
by this awful experience, and grasped their Tuan
by the arm entreating him not to venture near
what, they evidently thought, were the gates of
hell.
I feel that I have paid sufficient deference to
my instructions in recording the impressions the
scenery made upon the traveller, and shall there-
fore omit all mention of what he saw while
descending the mountain. He described it as
wonderful, and those of my readers who have
arrived thus far will be prepared to admit the
accuracy of the description. 93
The party reached Garvet in time to catch the
two o'clock train to Tassikmalaja, and thus make
a start for Tjilatjap.
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE QUEST FOR A MOTHER.
To start for Tjilatjap was such an unusual
departure that it merits a chapter all to itself.
No one had apparently left Garvet for Tjilatjap
for years, since it had been pronounced to be one
of the most unhealthy places in the island. The
correct thing for every traveller to do is to go to
Tassikmalaya for the night and proceed from
thence to Djoeja by train, go by carriage to
Beroboeddoer, where a halt for the night can be
made at a Government Rest House. The drive
is twenty-five miles. The next morning the
traveller should drive ten miles further to
Magelang, while his luggage goes by train or
bullock cart. From Magelang Amberawa is
reached by another drive of twenty miles, and
from here the railway can be taken to Semerang
or back to Djoeja, and from there to Solo, a three
hours' journey.
X. was informed that everyone took this route,
but he persisted in starting for Tjilatjap, notwith-
standing that the lady who presided over the
hotel assured him that it was the most fever
THE QUEST FOR A MOTHER.
stricken port in the country. Had he known then
as much as he subsequently learnt of the evil
reputation of the place it is probable that the
traveller might have changed his plans. As it
was, he only replied that he was inured to fever
and did not mind. At that time he had no
particular reason for going to one place more than
another, and therefore the one which drove him
in this direction was good enough to serve his
purpose. Usoof desired to commence the search
for his mother. He had no recollection of the
village where he was born, but believed it to be
somewhere near the coast which, considering the
country was an island, was somewhat a vague
indication. After assisting his Tuan to study 95
a map he exclaimed that the name Tjilatjap
sounded familiar to him, and sure enough it was
a large town on the coast. Now, he argued, it
could not be familiar unless he had heard it before,
and that could only have been when he was in
Java, and as he was then little more than a baby,
only the names of places in the neighbourhood of
his birth place could have been familiar to him.
It mattered little to X. where he went, the
further away from the beaten track, the more
opportunity for studying the natives and learning
something of their lives. So he readily agreed to
go to Tjilatjap. It was only after all plans had
been settled that its evil reputation for fever was
heard of.
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
The first stage of the journey was to Tassimalaja,
and, leaving Garvet at two, they arrived there in
time for dinner. So far as could be judged from
a very brief stay during the dark hours and early
morning, this seemed a pretty little country town,
but the train left early and there was little time to
look about. The first important stop was at
Maos, where a change had to be made. Among
the passengers was an Englishman whom X. had
met some ten years before in New York. He
was going the orthodox round to Ojoedja and
Semarang. The two Englishmen, both ex-
perienced travellers, exchanged views as to their
respective impressions of Java, and both
96 agreed that, wherever they went, the courtesy and
assistance received equalled if they did not
exceed any they had met with in other portions
of the globe they had trotted over. At Maos
their ways separated, though fate brought them
together again on board the steamer to Singapore.
Another companion of the journey was a
versatile young Dutchman who spoke many
languages and proved to be very good company.
This gentleman apparently had no great admir-
ation for his fellow-countrymen, as he saw them
in Java. He abused with equal impartiality the
food and the manner of life, and declared that the
Dutch in Java were devoid both of digestion and
energy. They were in fact half dead from bad
food and too much sleep. This communicative
THE QUEST FOR A MOTHER.
companion also gave his views on the civil service,
which had gradually grown from the stage, when
anyone could be pitchforked into it, to its present
condition, when both brains and interest are
required to achieve the entry to its rank. Let a
man once get in (the views are those of the
communicative Dutchman), his fortune was made,
if he only kept quiet and was satisfied to slip along
in the common groove. He must implicitly follow
prescribed rules and obey his immediate superior
blindly, sinking all individual conscience and
identity. Should he have views for his own self-
advancement or to assist the people, should he
economize Government money and reduce the
number of road-coolies or police, who actually
officiate in the household as cooks, gardeners, or
grooms, should he try to set a good example and
relinquish perquisites, "that man " exclaimed the
speaker " is lost, and had better return to Holland
forthwith." Such were the views of his travelling
companion, but what opportunity he had had for
forming them, and whether they were justified by
actual facts, X. did not know, or greatly care, so
long as he found his company amusing, which he
did until their arrival at Tjilatjap. Here his
opinion was somewhat modified, when his voluble
companion, profiting by superior experience,
annexed the only decent room in the hotel and
exulted over the ruse which secured it for him.
When X. first announced in the train that he
H
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
was bound for Tjilatjap there was a chorus of
exclamations, and his companions evidently
thought him eccentric. Had he also explained
his reason for going, there would have been little
doubt on the subject. It was then he learnt that
Tjilatjap had formerly been a garrison town, but
it had been found necessary to abandon it on
account of the high rate of mortality among the
troops. It was not till after the change at Macs
that the young Dutchman acknowledged that
Tjilatjap was also his destination, being probably
unwilling to appear eccentric in the eyes of his
fellow-countrymen who remained in the Djoeja
carriage.
98
THE QUEST CONTINUED TJILATJAP.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE QUEST CONTINUED TJILATJAP.
TJILATJAP was reached at midday. The town had
an imposing appearance, all the streets being
planted with avenues of large trees. X. drove at
once to the hotel, where he was given a room like 99
a horse-box with the sun streaming into it. As
mentioned above, he subsequently ascertained
that his travelling companion had managed to
secure the only decent room in the hotel, and X.
did not feel any love for the stranger, who had
taken what he felt to be an unfair advantage of
his local innocence. He only wished he could
hand him over to the tender mercies of the most
muscular and irritable member of the civi
service, after relating how he had libelled it.
There was lunch lying ready spread on the table
and its appearance was satisfactory. Next day he
noticed that this meal was laid hot at 9.30 daily,
and left cooling until far on in the afternoon.
Being hungry, the distant view of the table looked
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
inviting, and X. prepared for a hearty meal. But
his joyful expectation gave way to something like
disgust on discovering, what a nearer approach
revealed, that each article of food was firmly
congealed in its own gravy. But no one else
seemed to mind, and a party opposite father,
mother and daughter ate of these provisions as
though they were delicacies hot from the kitchen
of the Savoy or Bignon's. Strolling out a little
later to smoke a cigarette and try to persuade
himself he had lunched, the visitor spied the
proprietor of the hotel, his family and some
favoured guests, enjoying cakes, and what appeared
to be Madeira, and fruit in the verandah. As
100 sleep in that sunbaked oven of a room was
impossible, the traveller sent for a carriage and
went for a drive. The appearance of all the
houses that he passed gave the idea that every
one inside them was asleep, but their stillness
was counterbalanced by the busy crowds of
natives going to and fro along those avenues
of wonderful trees.
Later in the day X. sallied forth to call on the
Assistant Resident. He had been informed at the
hotel that this official was not visible between the
hours of ii a.m. and 7 p.m. rather a long period
of retirement.
As it was growing dark X. walked up to the
house, a far superior residence to the one at
Garvet. The lady of the house and her family
THE QUE5T CONTINUED TJILATJAP.
were starting for the evening drive, not daring
to venture out before this late hour. The
Assistant Resident, apparently a very young man,
received his visitor with great cordiality and gave
him all the information in his power, promising
his assistance if he wished to go further up
country. It should be stated that, arrived at
Tjilatjap, Usoof s memory received a filip, and he
recollected that the town of Jombong, not far off,
had been the chief place near his " kampong."
On hearing this, the Assistant Resident promised
to send a letter to the Wodena or native magis-
trate of the village, who lived at Soempioet and
could let him stay in his house. This exactly met
the wishes of X., who had been only wanting an 101
opportunity to see more of the native life in Java,
away from the track of hotels and tame curio
sellers, who differed but little in one town from
another. While the traveller was paying this
call, another visitor arrived. This was no less a
personage than the President of the Landraad.
After they had left, he hospitably invited the
Englishman into the club, where they played
billiards. The great man made himself most
agreeable and was quite ready to impart to his
companion all he might wish to hear about the
duties of the local government officers. He learnt
that the Assistant Resident exercised a very
limited jurisdiction as magistrate, and all cases,
excepting the most trivial, are brought before the
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
Landraad. The post held by this cheery official
was evidently most congenial, and he explained
with much satisfaction how he had to be
frequently travelling, and what a liberal allowance
he could draw while doing so. It need be liberal,
thought his hearer, to compensate for a course of
feeding in Java hotels. But sympathy on this
point was wasted, as the President of the Landraad
alluded to the one, at which it appeared they were
both staying, and spoke of it as comfortable.
Billiards over, it was time to return to the hotel
for dinner. This meal, probably more owing to
the lamp-light than to any inherent superiority,
seemed an improvement on the last one, had not
102 the diners made it unnecessarily uncomfortable by
treating it as though it were a hurried snack at the
counter of a railway refreshment room. For in-
stance, three or four times during the progress of
the meal callers came to see the courteous Presi-
dent, who cheerfully left the table to interview
them, returning with equanimity to the discussion
of the chilled dishes at whatever stage of the feast
he chanced on when he returned. The table was
not cleared away after the sorry farce of dinner
was over, and X. noticed, as late as ten and
even half-past ten o'clock, late diners strolling
in to feed on the ever less appetising remains.
X. recalled the words of his companion in the
train, and thought he at least had some justifica-
tion for his remarks on the digestions, or
THE QUEST CONTINUED TJILATJAP.
the want of them, of his fellow-countrymen in
Java.
The chief thing for intending travellers in
Java to recollect is the difficulty of obtaining
money, since no one will look at a cheque, as
people in that country do not use them. It is
necessary, therefore, to take ready money and
rely upon periodical remittances sent by regis-
tered letter from the bank. At Garvet X. had
his first experience of pecuniary trouble through
having placed confidence in his cheque book,
backed by the special permit signed by the
Governor General of the Netherlands India. He
had invested in some Java ponies and thus
outrun all calculations as to expenditure. The 103
hotel people would not look at his cheque, though
they certainly looked at the owner of it with the
careful scrutiny born of suspicion. Very troubled,
he had called at all the chief shops and places of
business in the town asking assistance, and
assuring merchants of his bona fides, as they
scanned his cheque and passed it from one to
another as a curiosity such as none of them had
ever seen before. At length good fortune
appeared in the shape of a Mr. Schmidt. One
of those who had endeavoured to grasp some
meaning from the cheque, explained that he
believed this kind of thing was seen in Europe,
and they had better call Mr. Schmidt, who not
only had been there within the last two years, but
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
also spoke a little English. X. eagerly seconded
the suggestion, and Mr. Schmidt appeared. His
verdict was anxiously awaited, but especially by
the owner of the cheque, whose future move-
ments must depend on the decision, and his relief
was great when the good, the discerning, the
up-to-date Mr. Schmidt pronounced in his favour.
He declared that, certainly he had seen such
cheques before, and generously offered to cash it
himself. Thus the situation was saved, and the
stranger was able to carry out his arrangements
and pay his debts. Good Mr. Schmidt ! that
stranger remembers you with gratitude. Here,
in Tjilatjap, X. was again threatened with
penury, for, though he had telegraphed for
money, the little registered packet had so far
not appeared. Perhaps his bankers could not
really credit that he had gone to a place with
such a reputation as Tjilatjap. But it was
because of this reputation that X. was unwilling
to prolong his stay there beyond what was
actually necessary, and, therefore, sending off the
Malays with the luggage, remained behind, rely-
ing upon the arrival of the money by the
morning post. He utilised the opportunity of
this enforced stay to visit the hospital. The
hospitals in the Native States of the Peninsula
are perhaps the chief signs of the civilization, of
which their Government may be proud, seeing
that in them natives of all nationalities are
THE QUEST CONTINUED TJILATJAP.
splendidly housed and have the best of medical
attendance free. It was, therefore, interesting
for the Englishman who hailed from that Penin-
sula to see how, in a large town like Tjilatjap in
Java, these things were done.
He had the good fortune to be most courteously
shown over the building by the doctor in charge.
It was somewhat of a surprise to find that there
were few patients in the hospital, notwithstand-
ing the reputation of the place for fever, and to
learn that the average number of sick amongst
the natives was not noticeably in excess of other
towns.
The whole building was a picture of neatness
and cleanliness. The walls were made of bertam 105
(a kind of plaited reed) so as to be easily
destroyed and replaced in case of infection. The
floors were of cement and raised off the ground.
This hospital has only been started two years,
and, at the present time, possesses fifty beds.
The bathing places in particular merited atten-
tion, the floors being tiled, while large tanks of
brick and cement contained the water supply
baths are provided for feeble patients. The most
elaborate building was the dead-house, where all
the latest improvements were to be seen. There
was, and is, a European ward where patients can
be treated for three guilders a day. Another
building, standing a little apart, was for Euro-
peans of a better class who could afford to pay
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
six guilders a-day, " but," the doctor added,
"they never come." The hospital is free for all
natives, and, contrary to what is frequently the
case elsewhere, the authorities seem to experience
no difficulty in inducing them to go there. The
doctor has one assistant to help him in managing
the hospital. He spoke very highly of the native
dressers, and said that they frequently turn out
well. To X., accustomed to see similar hospitals
crowded with Chinese, it was curious only to
find one in the whole hospital, and he was
the cook.
After his visit to the hospital the traveller went
to the post office to ask if his registered letter
had come, and was considerably depressed to find
that, though the post had arrived, there was no
letter 'by it for him. There was nothing to be
done but to accept the information and return to
the hotel and think it out. He was alone
servants and luggage had gone, and some ten
guilders of money only remained. Where could
he find a local Schmidt. The landlord suggested
that perhaps the people at the Factory might
change his cheque. X. was not certain, but
believed the Factory to be the name for the
offices of the chief trading firm in Java. Acting
on this advice, he took a carriage and drove
there. The haughty young gentleman who
presided behind the counter received him sus-
piciously, and at once disdainfully and very
THE QUEST CONTINUED TJILATJAP.
firmly refused to have anything to do with the
cheque, which he turned over and over in his
fingers as though it might bite him, and then
returned to its owner.
Bowed out and baffled, the traveller returned
to his hotel. The situation was now growing
serious, for the train to Soempioeh went in half-
an-hour, and, after paying his bill, there would
be no money for the fare, even could he start
penniless. As a forlorn hope X. sallied forth in
the sun to pay one more visit to the post-office.
This building was closed, and the hard-worked
officials had retired to their private apartments
in the back premises. Bold to desperation, the
visitor skirted round the post-office and peered
into the privacies beyond. Seeing an open door
he walked in, and found the chief official in his
shirt sleeves partaking of his midday meal.
With profuse apologies for his intrusion, X. stated
his anxiety about his remittance, and rather
feebly asked the officer if he were " quite sure "
the letter had not come. " Quite sure,"
grumbled the official in excellent English, " but
to satisfy you I'll let you come and look yourself."
X. almost begged him not to take what surely
must be superfluous trouble, but, luckily,
refrained, and accompanying the officer into the
post-office, walked towards a pile of papers
stacked in pigeon-holes. "There," exclaimed
his guide, "see see for yourself"; and he did,
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
for on the top lay a blue envelope duly registered
and addressed to himself.
Thus the hotel bill was paid, and he caught
the train to Soempioeh. There he was met by
Abu and messengers from the Wodena, who
accompanied him to that officer's house.
108
THE QUEST SUCCESSFUL.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE QUEST SUCCESSFUL THE WODENA's HOUSE.
THE Wodena's house was a comparatively large
building made with alang-lalang walls,* and the
floor on a level with the ground. The entire
front of the house was open, though the over-
hanging eaves of the roof kept out the glare. In
the foreground three tables with corresponding
chairs were ranged stiffly, as though in a hotel
verandah. In one corner was a little cupboard
kind of compartment, which X. found was his
bedroom.
There was no attempt to cover the floor of bare
earth with mats, as would have been the case in
even poor Malay houses. At the back of the one
large sitting room stood an imposing long table.
The outlook of the house was on to some untidy
waste land covered with long grass rather an
unusual sign of slovenliness in a country of such
universal neatness. Close by a new house was
in course of construction for Government use.
* Plaited grass.
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
This building had the somewhat strange com-
bination of alang-lalang walls and a tiled roof.
The host who welcomed X. to his house was, as
has been said, the Wodena, or local head native
magistrate. A Malay in such a position would
most certainly have had a courteous manner and
have probably been an agreeable companion. This
official, though he evidently intended to be
cordial, was awkward and seemingly stupid. He
also spoke bad Malay, and seemed an ill-educated
man for such a position. He wore a terrible old
sun-helmet on his head, and presented a
grotesque appearance.
After having tea his host took X. for a walk
110 round to show him the place, and all the people
crouched on the ground as they passed. The
followers in uniform walked after them, occasion-
ally shouting at those who did not promptly go
to earth, while hurrying their movements with
insinuating prods from the poles of office. The
few Chinese who were met, bowed low like ladies
to a royalty, which was a somewhat startling
experience to X., so recently from Singapore,
where Chinamen jostle Europeans from the side
walks and puff bad tobacco in their faces as they
pass. Apropos of this it might be mentioned
here that a high Dutch official in Java stated
that he considered that the way the Chinese in
Singapore were allowed to treat the Europeans
was " nothing less than a disgrace to civilization."
THE QUEST SUCCESSFUL.
In the Singapore local press at the time of
writing there is now appearing a series of
indignant letters from a Chinaman in Selangor
who signs himself as " Speaking Pig Tail."
This scribe complains to " Mr. Editor " that he
has not the same rights as a European. I
wonder what " Speaking Pig Tail " would say to
the above-mentioned Dutch official.
However these particular Chinese in Soempioeh
bowed many inches low to the Wodena, while X.
with bland self-consciousness appropriated a
certain length to himself as the only white man
in the place.
This walk at Soempioeh was full of interest,
and the Wodena kindly replied to the best of his 111
ability to all the questions asked. The whole
country round was one vast expanse of padi,
valleys and hills alike so far as the eye could
reach, and it seemed to X. that no population
could be sufficiently dense to consume such an
apparently unlimited supply, but the Wodena
assured him that none was ever exported. The
town presented a busy scene of great activity, as
there was evidently a country fair in full swing,
and rows of people lined the roadside selling
quaint cakes and fruit, and here and there a stall
was gay and sweet-smelling with little heaps of
gathered rose leaves and yellow blooms of
fragrant chimpaka. The Wodena and his
visitor called on the chief Chinese of the town,
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
of which race he informed him there were two
hundred all told. These people scarcely resem-
bled the Chinamen as known to X., since they had
all been born and bred in the neighbourhood,
and not one of them had experience of life beyond
the island of Java. The head Chinaman pro-
duced various curios so considered for inspec-
tion, these being sent for from the pawn-shops
close by. The Wodena volunteered the
information that large quantities of opium were
consumed in the district. This meant, as there
were no Chinese, the habitual use of this
drug amongst the people. After this walk the
little procession wended its way back to the
112 Wodena's house. Dinner that night proved a
weird meal, as Usoof, who cooked, had gone to
the neighbouring village of Tambak, where he
found his mother dwelt, and Abu, who had never
cooked anything more complicated than rice,
tried his 'prentice hand. The next day was
Sunday, and the weekly fair was at its height till
twelve noon. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of
people were packed tightly together, line after
line, under little sheds, selling sarongs and cloths
of every conceivable colour, with hats, mats, and
native ornaments of all descriptions. It was an
animated scene, and one not easily forgotten, and
this was the first time, if the Wodena was to be
believed, that any white man had seen it. Be
that as it may, or perhaps as it may not, X.
THE QUEST SUCCESSFUL.
allowed himself the satisfaction of believing that
it was the first time that any Englishman had
seen it.
After the fair the traveller returned home, and
there received a visit from Usoof and his mother.
He had found her, and the object of his journey
to Java was accomplished. It appears that he
had met her while walking along a path by the
river, which his awakened memory recalled
would lead him to his home. And she, noting
his unusual dress and stranger-like appearance,
stopped to ask whether he had any news of her
son who many years ago had gone away to
Singapore, and to whom she had so frequently
written, receiving no reply. She feared he was
dead, but as the kind stranger came from foreign
parts it was possible that amongst the colony of
Javanese in Singapore he might have heard of her
long-lost son.
Such was the meeting, and a dramatic and
successful climax to what had seemed a somewhat
forlorn quest. Had I the pen of a Swettenham
or a Clifford, those sympathetic spinners of
delightful tales of a race whose childish faith so
lends itself to story, I might here find material
for pages of a charming romance. But in reality
there was little romance about Usoof, rather a
sturdy honesty and affection, as he brought his
poor mother in her humble attire and presented
her to his Tuan, who, at that moment, bored to
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
death by his kind host, who would not cease to
entertain him by sitting by him in attentive
silence, would have welcomed any diversion as
a boon.
But the poor lady, according to the custom of
the country, could only prostrate herself outside
the house nor venture nearer than some dozen
yards, probably regarding her new-found son, who
stood upright, as some knave who courted death.
This system of obeisance had been rather
embarrassing to X., since all the retainers of his
host stooped low and crept about while his own
attendants had maintained their usual attitudes
with occasional lapses from the perpendicular.
For there had been intervals over night when,
realizing his conspicuous position, Abu had
wandered about awkwardly doubled up, and
offered cigarettes and liquid refreshment from
somewhere among the legs of the table, startling
his master by his sudden cat-like appearance in
unexpected places, while there was that in his
eye which said, " Do not expect this sort of thing
to continue when we get you home."
A VILLAGE HOME IN JAVA.
CHAPTER XIX.
A VILLAGE HOME IN JAVA.
To Usoof and his mother the great Wodena
was kindness itself, and conversed with them in
Javanese with much affability. X. wishing to
see a real country village, and obtain speech
with its people, away from the all-subduing eye
of the local authority, promised to go that after-
noon and visit the good lady in her ancestral
home, and a few hours later he took the train for
the next station, Tambak. No European had
ever done such a thing before apparently, and
there was quite a fuss at the station to find a first
or even a second-class ticket. And during the
search the railway officials displayed the most
naive curiosity, and questioned the traveller
without restraint. Arrived at Tambak X.
descended, and immediately the station-master
hurried forward and politely assured him that he
had made a mistake, since Gombong, the large
town, was the next station but one. He
obviously could not believe it possible that any
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
European should get out at Tambak on purpose,
and regarded the polite insistence of X. that he
knew where he wanted to go as evidence of some
sort of want of sanity, to be passed over as harm-
less. Gesticulating and ejaculating, the worthy
gentleman collected quite a little crowd of gazers
as the white man, followed by Usoof, sauntered
out of the station. Once out of sight, the station-
master would have been intensely gratified to see
X., who did not really in the least know where he
was going, turn round and ask his follower the
way. So they branched off to the left and wended
their route along the banks of a noisy river,
beneath the shade of huge trees which formed an
avenue by the side of the water. On their right
lay the endless padi fields of early green and
ripening gold, all equally shimmering in the sun.
This combination of ripe padi, side by side with
newly sown, forms a striking feature of Javanese
agriculture. While gazing upon this warm
picture, and congratulating himself that someone
had had the forethought to plant this pleasant
row of trees, the voice of Usoof from the rear
announced that they must now turn to the right.
To turn to the right naturally meant to go across
that sunlit plain. The hand of X. involuntarily
went up to his stiff stand-up collar, and though
he could not see the face of his attendant, he was
aware through his back that he smiled. So
climbing a rustic stile they branched off to the
A VILLAGE HOME IN JAVA.
right and walked across the padi, where the lurid
light was zigzagging above the corn. Presently
the red roofs of a village were in sight, and once
more the voice of Usoof spoke to introduce his
birthplace. This was interesting, as was the
additional information that the little river they
had now to cross was the boundary of his
ancestral land. The house they had come all this
way to see was deep in the shadow of countless
fruit trees, over which towered palms of consider-
able age. The green turf so scrupulously neat, and
the little group of buildings set round the central
house, all combined to make a picturesque scene.
In the front of these cottages, on the green
turf, was the reception house a square building,
surrounded by benches with a table in the middle.
Here the stranger was escorted by a crowd of
Javanese, cousins and sisters and brothers and
aunts, without number for it seemed less of a
family than a tribe which had come together to
do him honour. Then the guest was seated in
the place of state, and fruit of many kinds in
large brass dishes was set before him. It was
truly a pleasant spot, and there was additional
satisfaction in the thought that with so little to
guide them they had been able to light upon it
without lengthy search. Then ensued a conversa-
tion, during which the visitor learnt and imparted
many things. Amongst the former he heard that
once before, when the railway was being made, a
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
white man had been seen in the neighbourhood,
but the present occasion was the first, when the
village had beheld one close. And this stranger
told them of the Malays and his life amongst
them, and how their houses and customs
resembled theirs, while Usoof, alone venturing to
remain upright, acted as interpreter as a swarm
of young brown relations clasped his hands and
ruthlessly robbed him of his watch and chain,
his brass buttons, and all the loose coins in his
pockets. Then X., who has a material mind,
asked to see the title deeds of their lands, which
were produced and inspected, and they were
instructed how to proceed, so that when the time
118 came the absent Usoof, as the eldest son, should
obtain his fair share of the inheritance. Then,
as the shadows were lengthening, and the zigzags
on the padi had given way to a soft and mellow
light fanned by an evening breeze, X. gave the
signal to depart and announced that farewells
must be made. Hurrying over his own, he
wandered towards the river so that he might not
witness the anguish of the mother bereaved anew
of her long lost son, but he could not escape
hearing the sounds of sobs which arose behind
him. And the little procession of two the
European with his limp collar, and the Javanese
bereft of all his finery started once more across
the plain. But the procession grew and grew, as
one by one the fond relations hurried after it
A VILLAGE HOME IN JAVA.
for one more glimpse or one more word for the
departing brother. Then the traveller began to
feel as near a brute as ever in his life before, and
suggested to Usoof that he should bid him good-
bye and return for good to the bosom of his
weeping family. But this he declined to do, and
at the rustic stile the actual parting came.
Arrived at the train, the good station-master
was still on the look-out and walking around as
though something unusual had happened, but, tired
and hot, X. parried his questionings with some
abruptness. But the interviewer was as per-
sistent as if he were on the staff of a London
evening paper, and after producing an inverted
wheelbarrow, which he offered X. as a seat, went 119
to his house for a whisky and soda called by the
natives " Dutch water." After that walk in the
sun, his whole physical and nervous system
disorganized by the deglutition of strange fruits
and condiments, and by witnessing heartrending
family farewells, an unexpected whisky and soda,
when such a restorative had seemed as unobtain-
able as the very moon which was beginning to
appear, was welcome indeed. The station-master
was at once the master of the situation, and the
hitherto taciturn Englishman, his thirst assuaged
and his limbs at rest, became as communicative
as a star of the profession, and answered all
questions as fully and docilely as a willing
witness in the hands of his own counsel.
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
CHAPTER XX.
BACK TO THE JUNGLE.
ARRIVED at the house of the Wodena, the
traveller had to submit to more pumping, nor
would his host rest until he knew, or was per-
suaded he knew, each word which X. had written
120 in his letter of thanks to the Assistant Resident
at Tjilatjap. That night it was very hot, and it
was borne in upon the sleepless traveller that
he had exhausted the resources of the place.
Therefore at an early hour next morning his
miscellaneous fairings were packed, the cost of
his entertainment liberally repaid, and accepted
without demur, and the visitors, after earnestly
commending the picturesque little village at
Tambak to special official protection, departed
for the station. X. had intended to now perform
the usual round and visit the temples at Djaok-
jakerta, Solo and Semarang, but when almost in
the act of asking for his ticket, a spirit of revolt
infected him, and he rebelled at the thought that
he must go here and there just because all others
BACK TO THE JUNGLE.
did, when his inclinations really called him
elsewhere, for his inclinations were bidding him
go back to the cottage in the hills, where the tea
and coffee grew. And so without hesitation he
took his ticket and sent a telegram to announce
his intended return. Bandong was to be the
first halting-place, which meant travel in that
crawling train from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and stopping
at twenty-eight stations on the way. There was
no first-class compartment and the seats of the
second-class were hard and narrow, and the
cramped space after the first few hours became
almost unbearable. Things looked brighter, the
guard flattered the hopes of passengers by asking
who would buy tickets for lunch at some halting- 121
place further on, so that he could telegraph for the
meal to be prepared. Hope is eternal, and
experience of Java hotels had not yet robbed the
traveller of the fond pleasure of anticipation. The
Swindon of the line was reached, and there, sure
enough, was a table spread with food. After the
first bite of the first dish X. realized sadly that
he had been done, since it would have been
impossible to make any impression on that meat
with aught less forcible than an axe. Thus, with
reluctance, his portion, albeit paid for in advance,
was relinquished, to be again paid for probably
and again to flatter and deceive some other
passing and hungry stranger. The remainder of
the journey proved agreeable, thanks to the
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
companionship of a young officer who, invalided
home from the Lomboh war, was en route to
Buitenzorg, where he lived. This poor warrior
had undergone a time of much hardship, and
related how he and his men had slept shelterless
on the wet ground and for nights had nothing
but rice to eat. And this only half a day's
journey from the principal port in Java, and with
as much money collected for aid to the soldiers
as would have, if necessary, paid for the whole
cost of the war. This companion told many
interesting anecdotes of the war, and related
some almost incredible tales of the treachery and
ingratitude of the natives.
122 The Englishman also availed himself of this
opportunity for hearing something of social
etiquette in time of peace, and the unwritten
rules which guided those attending entertainments
where Dutch and natives met. As for instance,
when the Sultan of Djoedja gives a ball, each
official must stand upon a step, high or low, in
proportion to his rank, while the Resident is met
and escorted to the same lofty altitude as the
Sultan, on the top.
To the Governor-General, however, the Sultan
must do obeisance.
This might be a convenient place to mention
the great regard officially paid to caste. Reverence
for rank amongst the people is fostered and aided
by their rulers, and if a man of position is ever
BACK TO THE JUNGLE.
suspected or accused so that inquiry becomes
necessary, it must take place with closed doors
and in private.
That night the party lay at Bandong (fresh from
reading the " Red Cockade" its language seems
the most descriptive). The train reached that
considerable town at dusk. Here the traveller
had the good fortune to again meet his friend the
President of the Landraad, and was introduced
by him to the Club. Being introduced to the
Club meant being separately introduced to every
member then in it, with that punctilious formality
which X. had observed in Batavia. The hotel at
Bandong was the best which the traveller had yet
visited, and, contrary to expectation, dinner was 123
warm and comforting. The others of the party,
however, Usoof and Abu, were not so fortunate,
for they had no means of getting anything to eat.
It was not permitted them to go out after dark
without lights, and they could not get lights.
Added to this it was raining hard. The hotel
apparently could not supply natives with food at
such an hour, and it was necessary for them to go
and look for it. This sad story greeted X. when
his own dinner was done. But the kind Presi-
dent of the Landraad cut the knot of this dilemma
and soon provided a caterer, protector, and guide
for the hungry pair.
As usual next morning, the time fixed for the
train to leave was very early, and other trains
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
were starting too, and of these Abu selected the
one on the point of departure for Maos in which
to stow all the portable luggage no small
amount and this was only rescued as the train
was actually on the move. This, of course,
necessitated hurried action, making those who
hurried hot. Then the scene at the ticket window
was scarcely to be described. For a country
where, in public, such a gulf is fixed between
Europeans and natives, it is a strange thing to
find the one aperture for the purchase of tickets,
besieged by a serging clamouring throng of both
races, and no one had any idea of waiting his turn.
X. attemped to force his way to the little
124 window, but as he stopped to observe the rules of
the game, as played in civilized countries of the
West, he was each time passed over, when the
tickets were almost in his grasp. At length,
disgusted at having to take part in such a scene,
he retired. Then Usoof, with much insinuation
of elbows and words in Javanese (words such as
his mother may not have approved), managed
to obtain tickets just in time to catch the train.
This train duly landed them at the familiar little
station, where, as before, the ponies waited them
to carry them up that hill of wonderful views.
At the station the traveller parted with his
companion, the invalid officer, after accepting a
kindly invitation to lunch with him at Buitenzorg
on his way through to Batavia.
BACK TO THE JUNGLE.
No need to repeat myself in describing those
few extra days spent at the cottage in the hills.
And they also resembled the last ones in that
they went too quickly.
The hearty welcome received was, the visitor
liked to think, rendered even warmer by the
fact that he was able to assure his busy host that
the young tea plants had most certainly grown
a little in his absence.
The day soon came when X. was nearing the
limits of his leave and must start for Batavia.
The always early train reached Buitenzorg in
the morning, and there, where on his first visit
he had felt so lonely, the traveller was met by
his soldier friend and driven by him to the home 125
of his fiancee. That reception, and its pleasant
sequel of a a home-like lunch, is one of the most
agreeable of the recollections which X. now
preserves of the town. Though he felt inclined
to take the welcome all to himself, yet in his
heart he knew that it was in great manner due
to the fact that he was even remotely connected
with the safe return of one whom the household
considered as a son.
After lunch the host, bravely clad in uniform,
took his guest to see the barracks. These
buildings seemed as clean and comfortable as
could be expected in a tropical climate. The
extreme youth of some of the men was so notice-
able that the visitor could not but observe it, and
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
he learnt that this was accounted for by the fact
that they could enlist at the age of sixteen.
Another item of information was that one-third
of the army in Java was composed of people of
other nationalities. In the native corps there is
never any difficulty in obtaining recruits.
After inspecting the barracks a visit was made
to the gaol. This over they drove to the Club
for the much-needed refreshment of " Dutch
water '' with something in it. The Club was a
fine building, but there was no time left to enjoy
its luxurious lounges, and in a very short time X.
was bidding farewell to his good friend and
steaming once more towards Batavia.
Arrived in the capital, the traveller thought it
best to widen his experience by driving to an hotel
other than the one of electric light. This was
also a huge building at the end of a regular
street of rooms, all looking out on to the main
verandah. As this look-out provided the only
light, the majority of the occupants kept open
both doors and windows, and a walk along the
verandah was like some panorama of dressing in
all its stages.
The chief points about this hotel were the
usual ones indifferent food, absence of privacy,
and horrible bathing arrangements. In Eastern
countries it is usual to find a bath-room attached
to the bedroom. In Java hotels people ladies
as well as men burdened with sponges and
BACK TO THE JUNGLE.
towels, and some with soap, must cross a public
court-yard and wait their turn outside the bath-
room door. In this particular hotel the ordeal
was especially trying, since the bathrooms were
outside the office, and in the centre of a regular
street where people drove past arriving and
departing or calling on friends, and must perforce
gaze upon that little forlorn group of scantily-
clad humans on cleanliness intent. However,
this hotel remains to X. one of blessed memory,
since it was while there he was, through the
knowledge of the language, able to render some
slight service to two charming American ladies
who were courageously going round the world
alone. On the following day these ladies were
passengers on board the s.s. Godavery en route
for Hong Kong, Shanghai, Japan, Havaii, and all
the places in the world apparently, excepting,
alas ! that little one of Pura Pura.
That last evening there happened to be a
performance of an English circus, and X. went
there and laughed at the jokes of an excellent
clown a cheery being whose like he had not
seen for many a long year past. Fancy a clown
in the jungle !
The next day he reluctantly bade farewell to
the country where such a pleasant three weeks
had been spent, and embarking on board the s.s.
Godavery his impedimenta increased by three
ponies the traveller steamed again for Singapore.
FROM JUNGLE TO JAVA.
The day after his arrival there he started for
home, and some thirty-six hours later was once
more seated in his verandah, listening all alone
to the chanting songs of his Malay neighbours in
the plain below. The moon was bright, and
Pura Pura kept high revelry.
Those readers who have had the patience to
follow my friend through his short holiday may
leave him there sighing perhaps with contented
discontent an excuse for grumbling while all
around is beautiful, and body and mind can revel
in long chairs and books galore. There is a
world perhaps, he thinks, where all are up and
doing, but like his dreams it is very far away.
128 Has he been to Java he asks himself has he
ever been anywhere beyond the edge of this green
turfed hill to which are now ascending sounds
of happiness from poor villagers who live among
the padi fields, away there across the river,
dimly seen now when the moon is high ? And
has he helped to make them happy ? did they
always sit singing there before he or others came,
or did they have to watch with Krises ready,
for fear of stealthy foes foes who crept to
stab beneath the raised bamboo floors. Perhaps
he, too, has aided with his mite perhaps
who knows ? And as this thought occurs, the
discontent will fade, while content alone remains.
Long years has this exile lived in Pura Pura,
and then when he left it for a space to redeem
BACK TO THE JUNGLE.
a promise he asked me to relate all that he did
and saw while thus away. From Jungle to
Java have I therefore followed him as a faithful
chronicler and my commission is ended. But it
should not be so, since there are tales of the
jungle and tales of Pura Pura all worth the
telling if what I think be true. For there,
where life moves slowly, the incidents, which
make it dwell, dwell so long that those who
watch may note and read. And though that
which they read, being of nature and mankind,
is necessarily an old, old story, yet is the frame-
work new, and thus with an interest all its own,
able to impart a lesson to those who sit at home
and speak with vague pity of peoples far away. 129
Perhaps our traveller to whom such a name
must have seemed irony indeed will one day
ask my assistance to relate certain chapters of
that life, brief glimpses of which have been
afforded the reader in this little sketch.
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