changed into a deep ravine, and the road continued
to ascend along one of its steep sides, and became so
narrow that I was afraid my horse would lose his
footing in the soft clay, and that we should both go
down to certain destruction on the rocks that raised
their ragged jaws above the spray of the foaming
torrent below. A dark forest of primeval, gigantic
trees covered the sides of the mountains above us,
and crossing a rickety bridge we found many of their
huge trunks lying across our path. They had lived
to their allotted age and had not fallen by the hand
of man. This road has been lately made, and already
great fissures in its outer edge show that it is quite
ready to slide down the mountain.
Large troops of monkeys have established themselves
in this dark gorge, and just when I was in the
most dangerous place they made a frightful noise,
some trumpeting, some screeching, and some making
a prolonged shrill whistling, yet I could only see one
or two, though the natives who were building the
road assured me that the tops of the trees were full
of them. While in this deep ravine I crossed the
equator for the third time since I entered the archipelago.
I had now climbed up one thousand four hundred
feet during my short ride, and was therefore two
thousand one hundred feet above the sea. To the
northwest there now opened put before me a long,
narrow, gently descending valley, like the one I had
left behind; in fact, this water-shed is merely a transverse
ridge which unites the Barizan chain with the
chain parallel to it, in the same way as it is done by
the transverse ranges in which the Merapi and the
Sago rise. This appears to be naturally as fruitful a
region as the Menangkabau country proper, and
was undoubtedly included within the limits of
that empire during its most flourishing period. This
valley is generally very poorly cultivated, on account
of the small numbers of its population. By the wayside
were a number of eoffee-gardens. The trees
were well filled with fruit, but they had been greatly
neglected, and the tall grass was rapidly choking
them.
A few miles farther on I came to Lubu Sikeping,
where we were to rest until the next day. A native
opzien&r, or “ overseer,” was stationed here to receive
the coffee from the adjoining plantations. He had
not heard of our coming, and was quite surprised to
see a stranger here in such a remote spot among the
mountains, and not the less so when I informed him
that the inspector was just behind me, and that I
only chancpd to be in advance because, from what I
had heard of the road in the gorge, I had no fancy to
ride through it in a wide carriage. He received us,
however, like all the other officials, in the most polite
manner, and was evidently glad that something had
occurred to break up the dull routine of such a life of
exile. It was market-day here, and, as soon as I met
some of the natives returning to their homes, I saw
that they were a different people from those of the
Menangkabau country, and the overseer told me that
they are not natives of this particular region, but
belong to the wild tribe of Lubus, which I should
see farther up the valley, and that it is for this reason