aroundworldortra00peebiala-1
Share Embed Flag
Download ePaper

aroundworldortra00peebiala-1

adcptahiti
15.05.2017 Views

196 AROUND THE WORLD. is about fifty miles. Java alone has over forty active volcanoes. Borneo and New Guinea are just outside of the volcanic zone. Peru and South-American coasts faintly compare with these islands in terrible lava upheavals. The Javanese eruption occurring at Mount Galunggong, in 1822, destroyed twenty thousand inhabitants. A gentleman just from Batavia informs me that there has recently been another serious convulsion upon the island. Instead of liquid lava, as at Vesuvius, heated sands, stones, and red-hot ashes were thrown up with great violence. " Why," is it asked, "do Europeans live upon these islands?" The love of money, is the only answer. Gold in this century is god. A granitic mountain-chain runs the whole length of the Malay peninsula. It has thermal springs, but no active volcanoes. The mountains are not over a third as high as those in Sumatra and Java. This region is famous for minerals, — iron, copper, tin, and gold. Malacca and Siam are said to be the greatest tin countries in the world. I met several times " Charlie Allen," the young man who accompanied Mr. Wallace during his prolonged explorations in the East Indies. He had just come down from the Chindrass gold-mines in Malacca. These are forty-five miles from the old city of Malacca, and fifteen from IMount Ophir. They promise " rich," as Californians say. " Oh for American energy to work them " I exclaimed Mr. Allen. What interested me more than the quartz specimen he exhibited, was the description of an ancient, yet substantially built road during some important excavations. It lies embedded deep under a modern thoroughfare, yet revealing an entirely different kind of constructive conception. AYho, what people, built it ? Echoing ages are dumb. bied's-nest soups. As turtle-soup is a great dainty with English epicures, so are bird's-nest soups among Chinamen at Singapore and elsewhere. The Indian Archipelago, and adjacent rocky

MALACCA TO INDIA. ^97 isles, are the harvest-fields for these delicacies. The nests, a sort of gluey, gelatinous substance, seen in China markets, are found along the rocks, in deep and damp caves, and are the choicest if gathered before the birds have laid the eggs. The nests resemble in shape those of the chimney-swallows in America. The finest qualities of nests are when they are clear and white as wax : the poorest are those gathered after the young birds have flown away. THE UPAS. That terrible G-ueva JJpas^ — the valley of poison, — written about many years ago hj a Dutch surgeon at Batavia, and afterwards by others, without inspecting the locality, proved to be a hoax. True, there is a valley, grim, bare, and as destitute of vegetable as animal life, caused by the deadly nature of the carbonic and sulphurous acid gases that continually escape from the crevices and soils in this volcanic region. There are numerous plants and shrubs more poisonous than the Upas. Geographies, as well as Bibles, need revising. BETEL-NUT. — GUTTA-PERCHA. — COCOANUT-GROVES. The bewitching betel-nut, used by and so staining the lips and teeth of the natives, is common in Cochin China, Sumatra, Java, and tropical Indies. Its exhilarating fascination is said to excel even tobacco. Penang is the more common name of the nut ; accordingly Pulo-Penang signifies betel-nut island. While growing on the graceful and slightly tapering trees, they look something like nutmegs. When ripe, and broken into small pieces, the natives prepare them with the siri-leaf and the unslacked lime of shells. Though producing a dreamy, stimulating effect, it must necessarily injure the membranous surfaces of the mouth. Gutta-percha abounds in both Singapore and Penang. The Malays term the tree tuhan. It grows large, has a smooth bark and wide-spreading branches. The tree is not

MALACCA TO INDIA.<br />

^97<br />

isles, are the harvest-fields for these delicacies. The nests,<br />

a sort of gluey, gelatinous substance, seen in China markets,<br />

are found along the rocks, in deep<br />

and damp caves, and are<br />

the choicest if gathered before the birds have laid the eggs.<br />

The nests resemble in shape those of the chimney-swallows<br />

in America. The finest qualities of nests are when they<br />

are clear and white as wax : the poorest are those gathered<br />

after the young birds have flown away.<br />

THE UPAS.<br />

That terrible G-ueva JJpas^ — the valley of poison, — written<br />

about many years ago hj a Dutch surgeon at Batavia,<br />

and afterwards by others, without inspecting the locality,<br />

proved to be a hoax. True, there is a valley, grim, bare,<br />

and as destitute of vegetable as animal life, caused by the<br />

deadly nature of the carbonic and sulphurous acid gases that<br />

continually escape from the crevices and soils in this volcanic<br />

region. There are numerous plants and shrubs more<br />

poisonous than the Upas. Geographies, as well as Bibles,<br />

need revising.<br />

BETEL-NUT. — GUTTA-PERCHA. — COCOANUT-GROVES.<br />

The bewitching betel-nut, used by and so staining the<br />

lips and teeth of the natives, is common in Cochin China,<br />

Sumatra, Java, and tropical Indies. Its exhilarating fascination<br />

is said to excel even tobacco. Penang is the more common<br />

name of the nut ; accordingly Pulo-Penang signifies<br />

betel-nut island. While growing on the graceful and slightly<br />

tapering trees, they look something like nutmegs. When<br />

ripe, and broken into small pieces, the natives prepare them<br />

with the siri-leaf and the unslacked lime of shells. Though<br />

producing a dreamy, stimulating effect, it must necessarily<br />

injure the membranous surfaces of the mouth.<br />

Gutta-percha abounds in both Singapore and Penang.<br />

The Malays term the tree tuhan. It grows large, has a<br />

smooth bark and wide-spreading branches. The tree is not

logo

products

Resources

Company

Terms of service
Privacy policy
Cookie policy
Cookie settings
Imprint
Change language
Made with love in Switzerland
© 2024 Yumpu.com all rights reserved

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!