WORLD-FAMOUS GARDEN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 73, Issue 97, 26 April 1930, Page 1 (Supplement)

WORLD-FAMOUS GARDEN

Botanical Marvels

(By Frederick Stubbs, F.R.G.S.

While staying in Java, I spent several days at Buitenzorg, a beautiful, mostly modern city of 50,000 inhabitants, 4300 of whom are Euro x fans; the principal residence of the Governo®General, and the. site of many imposing and important Government offices. But its chief attraction, which brings visitors from all over the world, is the famous Botanical Garden, established more than 100 years ago, with an area .of some 200 acres, the largest in the Orient, with 10,000 species of plant life, mostly Javanese. Here I found the finest collection of orchids growing out-of-doors that I have ever seen; also splendid specimens of the Jacaranda, the Bougainvillea, the Frangipani, and the Magnolia, with' their exquisite scent; some splendid specimens of the Ficus family, though not the Moreton Bay Fig; one Ficus Elastica (yielding a kind of rubber). D r Dakkus, the curator, told me he had measured and found to be 40 metres (about 120 feet) in diameter. There are banyans that might shelter a regiment of soldiers; the cinnamon, the camphor, the rattan, the deadly pas which has provided the rhetoricians of all countries with similes during the last 2,000 years; the sago palm, which grows in marshy ground and possesses respiratory roots which stand out in water like red sprouts, a wonderful palm, providing the native not only with food, but with building material, mats, a roof for his house, etc. The cacao (cocoa) strange to say carries its pretty white flowers—not on its branches, but on the trunk. The travellers tree is here, of course, as it is everywhere in the tropics, a merciful provision of nature for the thirsty traveller, holding a supply of clear, sweet water at the base of its leaves. Other trees bearing familiar domestic names but rather strange in such a connection, are the sausage tree with fruit shaped like that tasty mystery; the soap tree whose fruit is used by the natives for washing purposes; the candle tree with what looks like clusters of wax candles hanging from the branches; and the pitcher plant with pale green mouth that opens to catch insects in its sticky jaws which promptly close on their victim. There seemed to be no end to the climbers and my companion told me that these were not parasites as is generally supposed, and that as soon as the stems of some of these climbers reached the top of the tree, they sent out long, pendant shoots—like cords—which as they reach the ground take root and creep on until they reach another tree. “There were numerous ponds in tho gardens, exhibiting varieties of the water-lily. Dr Dakkus said that the Nymphae opens its petals at 11 a.m. every day and closes them at 8 p.m. It was -thought that this regularity was on account of the sunlight, but on the lilies being put in a dark room they' behaved just the same, a remarkable instance of the force of habit. I saw also some fine specimens of the lotus flower, beloved of Buddhists. It would be unpardonable in any description of these gardens to omit, to mention the magnificent avenue of kanari trees, monarchs of the forest, whose trunks are almost hidden by. climbing plants and whose crowns meet »n an arch a hundred feet above. During our morning’s walk, the curator was kinef enough to say that although he was very busy it had been a pleasure to take me round because I appeared to be really interested, but. that it was not always so, and he had recently been asked to take round a prominent visitor who evidently took no interest in what was shown him.

One party of American tourists told him that they had given themselves

three days to see Java—a country nearly 1,000 miles long, with a population of over 40,000,600! I recall a similar incident that occurred when I was acting as a correspondent with the King in India. A large party of Americans landed at Bombay and announced that they intended to do that vast country with its thousands of towns and villages in eight days! I travelled for six months, and even then left a great part unvisited. Now 1 must give some of my readers a surprise. They have heard and read of these famous gardens as being the largest and most beautiful in the world. But they may be surprised to learn that they are not really gardens at all—in the generally accepted sense—but rather a heavily-wooded park. There are no flower beds, few flowers of any kind, but there are thousands of trees and shrubs, 90 per cent., indeed, of the .specimens of plant life being trees. It is really a splendid botanical park, but quite different say, from the Botanical Gardens of Sydney, and not nearly us beautiful. To anyone who expects to find lovely beds of flowers, it is a disappointment. In addition to the “garden” 1 have described, there is another large area known us the exprimental garden, and kept for purely scientific purposes. I have left to the last the tomb of Lady Raffles, which is found near the principal entrance. It will De remembered that Sir Stamford Kames, who added Singapore to the British Empire, was Governor of Java until the then British Government handed it back to the Dutch. Here his beloved wife died and was buried. The tomb is built in the form of a Greek temple surmounted by a funeral urn and bears the following touching inscription

SACRED To the memory of Olivia Marianne wife of Thomas Stanford Raffles Lieutenant Governor Of Java and its Dependencies, Who died at Buienzorg On the 26th. Nov., 1814. Oh Thou whom ne’er my constant heart One moment bath forgot Though Fate severe hath bid us part Yet still forget me not. Near the entrance to the gardens there is also a small aquarium consisting of two tanks, and also the nucleus of a zoo, in which I saw a surprisingly intelligent monkey whose antics were enough to make the Darwinian theory credible even to a scep-

The city has an elevation of 850 ft., a fairly good climate, a superb view of two mountains respectively 5,400 and B,oooft. high; an interesting museum and a reasonably good' hotel. Drought is unknown. It rains every day, the rainfall being no less than 160 inches. Another part of Java, where I should be sorry to live, has 400 inches. It is said that the inhabitants have webbed feet and are developing fins. The Governor’s palace is situated at the far end of the botanical garden, a handsome structure, finely situated. But. the chief attraction of the city is the garden. I must not close without making grateful acknowledgement of the courtesy of the principal Government officers, all men of high scientific attainments, who were most obliging and did all they could to help me in seeing and learning all that I needed for the purpose of this article.