The Malay archipelago : the land of the orang-utan ... - Wallace Online

84 THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. [chap.which brought myself, servants, and baggage at one-tifth theexpense it liad cost me to come to Modjo-kerto. The river hasbeen rendered navigable by being carefully banked up, butwith the usual eftect of rendering the adjacent country liableoccasionally to severe floods. An immense traffic passes downthis river ; and at a lock we passed through, a mile of ladenboats were waiting two or three deep, which pass through in_ their turn six at atime.A few days afterwardsI went bysteamer to Batavia,where I stayed aboutPORTRAIT OF JAVANESE CHIEF.a week at the chiefhotel, while I madearrangements for atrip into the interior.The business part ofthe city is near theharbour, but theliotels and all theresidences of theofficials and Europeanmei'chants arein a suburb two milesoff, laid out in widestreets and squaresso as to cover a greatextent of ground.This is very inconvenientfor visitors,as the only publicconveyances arehandsome two-horsecari'iages, whose lowestcharge is fiveguilders (8s. 4d.) forhalf a day, so thatan hour's business inthe morning and aa day for carriage hirevisit in the evening costs 16s. sd.alone.Batavia agrees very well with Mr. Money's graphic accountof it, except that his "clear canals" were all muddy, and his"smooth gravel drives" up to the houses were one and allformed of coarse pebbles, very painful to walk upon, and hardlyexplained by the fact that in Batavia everybody drives, as it canhardly be supposed that people never walk in their gardens.The ilotel des Indes was very comfortable, each visitor having asitting-room and liedroom opening on a verandali, where he can