manner of any one present indicating passion or ill-feeling
—a very good illustration of the Malayan type of character.
In a month’s collecting at Wonosalem and Djapannan
I accumulated ninety-eight species of birds, hut a most
miserable lot of insects. I then determined to leave East
Java and try the more moist and luxuriant districts at the
western extremity of the island. I returned to Sourabaya
by water, in a roomy boat which brought myself, servants,
and baggage at one-fifth the expense it had cost me to
come to Modjo-kerto. The river has been rendered
navigable by being carefully hanked up, but with the usual
effect of rendering the adjacent country liable occasionally
to severe floods. An immense traffic'7 passes down this
river; and at a lock we passed through, a mile of laden
boats were waiting two or three deep, which pass through
in their turn six at a time.
A few days afterwards I went by steamer to Batavia,
where I stayed about a week at the chief hotel, while
1 made arrangements for a trip into the interior. The
business part of the city is near the' harbour, but the
hotels and all the residences of the officials and European
merchants are ixf a suburb two miles off, laid out in wide
streets and squares so as to cover a great extent of ground.
This is very inconvenient for visitors, as the only public
conveyances are handsome two-horse carriages, whose
lowest charge is five guilders (8s. 4^.) for half a day, so
that an hour’s business in the morning and a visit in
the evening costs 16s. 8d. a day for carriage hire alone.
Batavia agrees very well with Mr. Money’s graphic account
of it, except that his “ clear canals ” were all muddy,
and his “ smooth gravel drives ” up to the houses were one
I and all formed of coarse pebbles, very painful to walk upon,
I and hardly explained by the fact that in Batavia every-
■ body drives, as it can hardly be supposed that people
never walk in their gardens. The Hotel des Indes was
very comfortable, each visitor having a sitting-room and
bedroom opening on a verandah, where he can take his
morning coffee and afternoon tea. In the centre of the
quadrangle is a building containing a number of marble
E baths always ready for use ; and there is an excellent
I table d'hote breakfast at ten, and dinner at six, for all
I which there is a moderate charge per day. II went by coach to Buitenzorg, forty miles inland and
I about a thousand feet above the sea, celebrated for its
I delicious climate and its Botanical Gardens. With the
I latter I was somewhat disappointed. The walks were all
of loose pebbles, making any lengthened wanderings about
them very tiring and painful under a tropical sun. The
gardens are no doubt wonderfully rich in tropical and
especially in Malayan plants, but there is a great absence
of skilful laying-out; there are not enough men to keep
the place thoroughly in order, and the plants themselves
are seldom to be compared for luxuriance and beauty to