terrace system is unknown. 1 first saw this mode of cultivation
in Bali and Lombock, and, as I • shall have to
describe it in some detail there (see Chapter X.), I need
say no more about it in this place, except that, owing to
the finer outlines and greater luxuriance of the country
in West Java, it produces there the most striking and
picturesque effect. The lower slopes of the mountains.-in
Java possess such a delightful climate and luxuriant soil;
living is so cheap and life and property are so secure,
that a considerable number of Europeans who have been
engaged in Government service, settle permanently in the
country instead of returning to Europe. They are scattered
everywhere throughout the more5 accessible parts of
the island, and tend greatly to the gradual improvement
of the native population, and to the continued peace and
prosperity of the whole country. *
Twenty miles beyond Buitenzorg the post road passes
over the Megamen dong, Mountain, at an elevation of about
4,500 feet. The country is finely mountainous, and there
is much virgin forest still left upon the hills, together with
some of the oldest coffee-plantations in Java, where the
plants have attained almost the dimensions of forest trees.
About 500 feet below the summit level of the pass there
is a road-keeper’s hut, half of which I hired for a fortnight,
as the country looked promising for making collections.
I almost immediately found that the productions of West
Java were remarkably different from those of the eastern
part of the island; and that all the more remarkable and
characteristic Javanese birds and insects were to be found
here. On the very first day, my hunters obtained for me the
elegant yellow and green trogon (Harpactes Keinwardti), the
gorgeous little minivet flycatcher (Pericrocotus miniatus),
which looks like a flame of fire as it flutters among the
bushes, ,and the rare and curious black and crimson oriole
(Analcipus sanguinolentus), all of them species which are
found only in Java, and even seem to be confined to its
western portion. In a week I obtained no less than
twenty-four species of birds, which I had not found in
the east of the island, and in a fortnight this number
increased to forty species, almost all of which are peculiar
to the Javanese fauna. Large and handsome butterflies
were also tolerably abundant. In dark ravines, and occasionally
on the roadside, I captured the superb Papilio
arjuna, whose wings seem powdered with grains of golden
green, condensed into bands and moon-shaped spots; while
the elegantly-formed Papilio coon was sometimes to be
found fluttering slowly along the shady pathways (see
figure at page 201). One day a boy brought me a butterfly
between his fingers, perfectly unhurt. He had caught
it as it was sitting with wings erect, sucking up the liquid
from a muddy spot by the roadside. Many of the finest
tropical butterflies have this habit, and they are generally
so intent upon their meal that they can be easily ap-
vol. i. if