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

VII.] JAVA. 85take his morning coiJee and afternoon tea. In the centre of thequadrangle is a building containing a number of marble bathsalways ready for use ; and thei-e is an excellent table dliotebreakfast at ten, and dinner at six, for all which there is amoderate charge per day.I went by coach to Buitenzorg, forty miles inland and abouta thousand feet above the sea, celebrated for its delicious climateand its Botanical Gardens. With the latter I was somewhatdisappointed. Tiie walks were all of loose pebbles, making anylengthened wanderings about them very tiring and painfulunder a tropical sun. The gardens are no doubt wonderfullyrich in troj^ical and especially in Malayan plants, but there is agreat absence of skilful laying-out ; there are not enough mento keep the place thoroughly in order, and the plants themselvesare seldom to be compared for luxuriance and beauty to thesame species grown in our hothouses. This can easily be explained.The plants can rarely be placed in natural or veryfavourable conditions. The climate is either too hot or too cool,too moist or too dry, for a large proportion of them, and theyseldom get the exact quantity of shade or the right quality ofsoil to suit them. In our stoves these vai'ied conditions can besupplied to each individual plant far better than in a largegarden, where the fact that the plants are most of them growingin or near their native country is supposed to preclude thenecessity of giving them much individual attention. Still, however,there is much to admire here. There are avenues of statelypalms, and clumps of bamboos of i^erhaps fifty difierent kinds ;and an endless variety of tropical shrubs and trees Avith strangeand beautiful foliage. As a change from the excessive heats ofBatavia, Buitenzorg is a delightful abode. It is just elevatedenough to have deliciously cool evenings and nights, but not somuch as to require any change of clothing ; and to a person longresident in the hotter climate of the plains, the air is alwaysfresh and pleasant, and admits of walking at almost any hour ofthe day. The vicinity is most picturesque and luxuriant, andthe great volcano of Gunung-Salak, with its truncated and jaggedsummit, forms a characteristic background to many of the landscapes.A great mud eruption took place in 1699, since whichdate the mountain has been entirely inactive.On leaving Buitenzorg, I had coolies to carry my baggageand a horse for myself, both to be changed every six or sevenmiles. The road rose gradually, and after the first stage thehills closed in a little on each side, forming a broad valley ; andthe temperature was so cool and agreeable, and the country sointeresting, that I preferred walking. Native villages imbeddedin fruit trees, and pretty villas inhabited by plantei-s or retiredDutch officials, gave this district a very pleasing and civilizedaspect ; but what most attracted my attention was the systemof terrace-cultivation, which is here universally adopted, andwhich is, I should think, hardly equalled in the world. Tho