THE TRAVELLER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2883, 23 June 1909, Page 89

THE TRAVELLER.

A TRIP AROUND '/THE % WORLD.

By Dor Sigel Botjsh.

(Special to the- Otago Witness.)

That group of islands lying under the equator and stretching irregularly from Australia to Asia, has always fascinated me. Strange tales of the savages that roam these jungle-covered kingdoms and subsist upon the fruit of the chase, the forest, and the sea contributed many a thrilling hour to my boyhood days. Nor ■were these stories entirely the result of an imaginative writer, for even to-day many oosf s the islands axe inhabited by tribes of wild men, who wear no clothes, and are as fierce and untamable as the tigers and panthers tifat inhabit their common land

It was my- privilege to examine, recently, a Temarkable collection of photographs taken by the mate of a little Dutch- steamer fhat plies among these less known islands from New Guinea to Borneo. The trading vessel collects jungle products from the natives, and the mate's description of their manner of conducting the business was extremely interesting. As the* language of these -wilder tribes inhabiting some of the smaller islands is absolutly unintelligible and "unleamable," the business had to be conducted entirely by signs. At first the natives were very timid, and not until several- trips had been made could they be induced" to emerge from the jungle. But knowing the savage's love, for bright trinkets and mysterious articles, the ship went well supplied with glass beads, cheap ornaments, and matches, the latter being most wonderfully interesting to the average dweller of these primitive isles. So gradually the "children of the forest" were induced to bring coooanuts, rattan, medicinal herbs and bark, and other useful jungle products to the ship, for which they received in exchange such trinkets that most delighted them, until in a few years regular stations among the islands were established and maintained. A few months ago a second ship was put on the route, but the natives viewed this interloper with alarm, and absolutely refused to have anything to ■do with it. They even withdrew their patronage from the first vessel till the newcomer was discontinued, when they resumed the trade with the original shig wifoh which they had become familiar.

The photographs referred to above picture various groups of natives and native ecenes obtained at these trading stations that are most interesting. As I have said before, these wild denizens wear absolutely no clothing. They live for the most part in huts constructed in the trees. The views, if published, would make up a most novel portfolio, and I suggested to the mate if this were done it would undoubtedly- prove a paying venture, though he was inclined to think otherwise, and aside from personal souvenirs attached but little importance to the collection.

— Like a Tip to FairyJand. —

With the boyhood tales of this strange archipelago revived the sail through t£e equatorial islands — some of which were mere bunches of green and gold emerging from the surface of the placid water — took on the phases of a trip in fairyland, and- the 36 hours from Singapore to Batavia passed, all too soon. The outgoing trip was made on the Koning Wilhelm 11, a Dutch mail steamer from Amsterdam. The ship was a model of Dutch cleanliness and comfort, and all aboard expressed their perfect satisfaction with the service.

Batavia, the metropolis of Java, is Teached after half an hour's journey by train from the Tanjong Priok, or landing place. We disembark on a- swampy plain filled with the most tropical vegetation. The railroad to Batavia follows the hanks of a huge canal that furnishes one means of transportation for merchandise from the dock to the city. # Alighting in the section of Batavia known as Weltvedren, we stepped outside of the little station, where scores of dos-a-dos (pronounced sado) were waiting to convey us to our hotel. These vehicles are peculiar to Java. They are twowheeled affairs, -with top and curtains, and provide room for" three people besides the driver. Two ride backward and one sits beside the driver and faces forwards. They are usually drawn by one Javanese •horse, though ' two and sometimes three are used in special, cases, the extra horse or horses, as -the case may be, being attached outside of the original pair of shafts.

— Arrival at the Hotel. —

So into the sado we climbed, and were At "once whisked from the clamouring

crowd of other drivers toward our hotel. For 20 minutes we dashed at breakneck speed along the emooth road bordering a Dutch canal till finally, after nearly losing our . balance a dosen times as we violently swayed from side to side, we, turned abruptly into the hotel compound and were brought up before the office door. Mine host, a great' red-faoed genial Dutchman, met us, and assigned us to our room.

The Hotel dcs Indee — pronounced Hotel Din — probably covers an area of 15 acres. The rooms are arranged in long, onestorey buildings around an enclosed court or garden located a little to the rear of the office building, which also contains the main dining room. Extending in front of this barracks-like long building is a common porch, where lounging chairs are provided, and where the guest sits in front of his room and spends most of his time. It is curious to walk along the corridors and study the Dutch character as observed in Jaya, for, unlike the British in India, the Hollander in the provinces loses much of hjs northern characteristics. They intermarry freely with the natives, and it is not aii unusual sight to see a white father with his native -wife and chocolatecoloured children in trains, on ships, and at the leading hotels.

— A Cuxious a- amily Group. —

There was a curious family group on boai'd the ship in whioh we returned to Singapore. The- father, a man of perhaps 70, was the manager of extensive tin mines lit Billeton, a-n island 24 hours i out from Batavia. He had married a native woman of Chinese caste, who accompanied him, together with his four children, the oldest of whom, a. young lady of 20, was as "white as her father-f but the remaining three girls were as foreign-looking as their mother. The oldest daughter had been educated abroad, j ajid spoke English fluently. At Billeton the group was met by a dozen relations of several shades and nationalities, some ! dressed in native costume like the wife and mother, wihile others appeared in modern European garb. When they assembled on deck and kissed all around they suggested a love feast of a congress of nations more than merely a -family group. And so one is startled, not to say j shocked, all over the island of Java to see this promiscuous mixture of white and native, though recently, however, such reckless and novel, unions have been frowned upon not only by outsiders, but by the more influential of tihe Dutch themselves. Tbp native wife referred to above with her three dark children did not dine in the saloon, though the husband and eldest daughter did. Whether this arbi- j trary colour line was drawn by the ship's management ox whether it was voluntarily made by the darker contingent of the family themselves I am not^ able to say. The father and daughter however, after dining themselves, always brought the meals for the mother and younger sisters on deck, where they were eaten, after which "the xeuaiited family walked or' talked together in terms of the greatest concord and intimacy. The strange combination never failed to interest the- European passengers, who sometimes perhaps allowed their curiosity to get the better of their manners, though their prolonged stares did not apparently in the least, disconcert the serenity of the mixed family.

— The Butch Women. —

The Dutch women, too, are curiously influenced by local custom and costumes. One of the most startling sights observed by the newcomer here is the appearance of whits women in native address. This consists of a sarong or pinless and buttonless skirt tucked about the wai?t, together with a loose filmy sacque, which falls a little below the hips. A stoc&in<rle«s foot inserted into a slipper with only a toe covering completes this bizarre costume, though the fcot^ear is often omitted altogether. Now a native so dresF^-d is all weJl enough, and after travelling through India and Ceylon the tourists grew accustomed to any sort of garb, from a chain and oharm to a full suit, but as we passed along the common corridor to our room in Batavia and saw group after group of these Dutch resident women sitting in this startling dishabille and untidy costume we were ju-st a trifle astounded. With the exception of dinner, when they "bloom out in full dress and jewels, these women appear as we saw them lounging in front of their rooms at all meals. They shuffle along the streets with their sandals napping merrily against their bare soles, and their sarong hitched about their hip?, sailor fashion, and often askew, in the most indifferent and unconcerned manner. They may he observed any day in groups or alone with natives or Europeans, and always apparently unconscious of the ridiculous and shocking

picture which to the European at least they invariably present.

— Tropical Fruit. —

Latavia with its moist miasmic heat holds out to the tourist but few attractions, so on the following morning we

took to the hills,

xbe ride to Buitenzorg , is through a rich tropical plain filled with fruits of all kinds — palms, flowering trees, tall grasses, and giant bamboo. One 'notes tree after tree here laden with the redspiked Rambutan, found most abundantly everywhere in Java. It ''s brought from the jungle in baskets piled high with the beautiful burr-like fruit, and sold everywhere. Th© street vendor, with his pole across his shoulder, shouts "Eambutans* 1 at the top of his voice. Men. women, and children go about the streets bunch in hand, leaving a trail of shells in their wake. The mangosteen, the supreme fruit o£ the tropics, is found in Java in reckless prodigality. For a few pennies we often bought ,five or six dozen of the delicious fruit. If it could be shipped no doubt it would be constantly found on all European fruit stands. But this cannot be done. Queen Victoria made a standing ofier of one hundred pounds sterling to the captain of any vessel who would succeed in delivering -to her a sample of this well-known tropical fruit, and though every kind of preservative lias been tried jc one has succeeded in transporting it untarnished from the tropics to the temperate zone. It is pronounced by most all epicures to be the acme of deliciousness in the, world of fruit. The banana and pineapple grow on these lowlands most satisfactorily, and possess delicious flavours. The Doeoce, the Jamboa, the Salak, the Pomelo, -"and a score of other native fruits form, with rice, the main means of native subsistence.

— Java Possesses Many Charms. —

Java has been variously called the "-'Gem of the Indies," the "Garden of the World," and the acme of tropical perfection. It is indescribably beautiful, and possesses for the tourist, the scientist, and the student of civil and political economics alike a veritable treasure house of delights. We thought Ceylon tropical, and then came Malay with its new tropical phases, but what shall we say of Java, the essence of all tropical countries, where orchids are as common as daisies, and where one's backyard supplies the table from one year's end to another, and that, too, without labour and without price ! How can one describe an island, so rich in the necessities of life that, though only the size of the State of New York, still it supports in comfort 35 million inhabitants, and exports, besides, millions of bushels of rioe, thousands of dollars' worth of tapioca, tea, and coffee, and half the world's supply of quinine?

— The Javanese People. —

What can be said 'of a people living under the enervating rays ot the tropical sun who arise before daybreak and repair to the fields, there to labour- industriously the wfoole day long and return at night singing and dancing with energy to spare to their toy villages, or Kampongs — a race of child-like habits and minds peaceful and law-abiding, who look upon the whites as their natural rulers and good providers whom they trust implicitly and universally respect. Conquered in turn by the Hindus, the Mohammedans, and the Dutch, they gracefully submitted to the new order of things in each case, and immediately set about changing their habits of life, and even their religion, to conform to the wisnes of each set of new rulers. Though the Mohammedan religion is generallypractised by the natives, still it rests lightly on the shoulders of the Javanese. Tife women, contrary to the tenets of Islam, go about as freely as do the Burmese women, and are always seen in the markets, the fields, and the kampongs, being even more in evidence than the men.

The shrines and mosques are of secondary importance, and play but an inconspicuous part in the life of the average native.

In stature and colour the Javanese resembles the Japanese, but his features display main- characteristics of the African, his Ha,t no^e and large nostrils being particularly noticeable in this rpspect. ,

— Characteristics of Java

At Buitenzorg one reaches an elevation of 855 ft above the sea level. Heie one is in the hill country, and though the elevation is slight the change from the 6teaming plains of Batavia to the cooler moist air of this official station ib readily recognised.

Java is a land of perpetual rain and •sunshine — the forenoon sunshine, the atternoon rain with cJock-like regulaiitv. At Buitenzorg especially Ls the" afternoon rain to be expected with absolute certainty. So regular io the downpour here between 3 and 4 o'clock that appointments are made by it. the day's happenings are reckoned by it. even the clock is regulated by it.

One can imagine no more favourable condition for the growth of tropical vegetation than a land where half the day is tropical sun, the other half tiopicd rain, and the nights a season of darkne-s and warmth that converts every leaf and flower into a living iponge. and in 24 hours mildews to a green mould every fabric and fixture in the hou>e unless daily dried in, the morning sun. A room shut up for a week will grow into a cave of green, filmy stalactites and stalagmite*, and smell like a fermenting ma-s of green vegetation. So in the morning hours beds, upholstered furniture, and wearing apparel are removed to the sun. A few minutes before X they are replaced in the rooms, and at exactly 3 o'clock the first pint diops of rain, begin to pound the red roofs of the pavilioned hotel. The native pays absolutely no attention to the rain, for he leads an aquatic life from the time

he wades knee deep into~tlie rice fields to ' his day's .work* till - the., time he climbs to his toy_ ihouse. set up four feet high on bamboo poles above the moist ground and removes his soaked sarong before partaking of his evening meal of fruit and rice. " ". — Production of " Rice. — The production of rice in- Jaya was to me one of the most interesting and remarkable features of the island. One rides for hours and days through great valleys of rice fields, varying in size from a few square yards to several acres, enclosed by a foot wall of mud and ricestraw, terraced down the side of a ravine or half-way •up the mountain slope, and always covered with several inches of water whether the crop be in the process of transplanting or harvest, all of which stages may be witnessed ' in balf a day's trip through almost any part .of this "garden of the world." " " l J Men, women/ and children by the him- , dred, are seen scattered over the plain ; of rice fields, standing knee deep in the soft mud and water, plucking '.the ripened Beads, stirring witt^i hoe ; ;these black mortar „ beds preparatory to seiitingV out the 1 young plants, or" -mending some broken jnud wall. Rice-culture, like most other work iv Java, is done entirely by hand. One byone the young rice plants are patientlyplucked from, the culture bed and transplanted in the larger fields in rows as regular and symmetrical as the flowers of an Italian garden. Wftatever v cutfcivary tion is required to perfect the crop is -all done by hand, and at harvest time thou- " sands of acres are garnered head bj. head and carried in Jittle bundles resembling bouquets of ornamental grass to the threshing floor, where each grain is pounded out, the chaff winnowed away, and the clean rice packed for shipment or home consumption. Tw< and sometimes three crops a year are harvested, amounting to millions and millions of pounds of rice, and yet every part of this giganl* crop is produced by manual labour, and often, too, in the most primitive way. In a single instance I caw a water buffalo wallowing through a mud field at the end of a rude plough, and this was the only exception I observed to the practically universal hartd labour in the Java rice fields. It is a constant source of surprise to note the garden-like care and economy practised by these- Javanese peasants. No landscape" of Europe presents such frugality and thrift in land economy 1 . JNb mountain slope of the Azores is more completely cultivated, for here in this tropical isle the very peaks are cleared of the jungle and made to contribute their share of coffee, or cinchona, or tea to the common support of the land., . The coffee plantations of Java, however, have dropped into comparative insignificance since the blight of a score of years ago began to depreciate this staple. But tea on the mountain slopes " has taken the place of coffee, and save for the few years' interval when the shift was being made the revenue from this source has annually equalled the former income from coffee. * — Temple Ruins of Java. — In closing this first letter on some of the general features of the land of perpetual summer I -deem it fitting- to refer to Java'-s ruins, discovered and excavated during the few years of English occu- , pancy. Sir Stamford Raffles was the 1-nglish Governor at that time, and did moie toward modernising Jam during his term of ofnee than the Dutch rulers had accomplished in the previous two centuries. Among other- things he dis- \ covered and caused to be- excavated some ''• of the most extensive .temple ruins the - world presents. , They were covered in ' jungle so dense that even the natives did not know of their presence. Sir Stam- ' ford, however,, in his explorations- of the island suspected, dug, and unearthed these prehistoric ruins, apparently of Hindu origin, but bearing a striking similarity to ancient remains of South and Central j America. This last feature has verified . in a degree tha opinion held by many j historians and ethnologists that America ' and Asia were in early times in 'some ; way associated. Thesa ruins are rich in- j sculpture, vast in extent, and most in- | ter&sting to the tourist, antiquarian, and J the .-tudent 6f early art and architecture. '