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ACROSS THE EQUATOR.

[Frontispiece: TEMPLE, PARAMBANAN.]




  ACROSS THE
  EQUATOR.

  A HOLIDAY
  TRIP IN JAVA.


  BY

  THOS. H. REID.


  KELLY & WALSH, LIMITED,
  SINGAPORE--SHANGHAI--HONGKONG--YOKOHAMA.
  1908.
  [all rights reserved.]




PREFACE.


It was at the end of the month of September, 1907, that the writer
visited Java with the object of spending a brief vacation there.

The outcome was a series of articles in the "Straits Times," and after
they appeared so many applications were made for reprints that we were
encouraged to issue the articles in handy form for the information of
those who intend to visit the neighbouring Dutch Colony. There was no
pretension to write an exhaustive guide-book to the Island, but the
original articles were revised and amplified, and the chapters have
been arranged to enable the visitor to follow a given route through the
Island, from west to east, within the compass of a fortnight or three
weeks.

For liberty to reproduce some of the larger pictures, we are indebted
to Mr. George P. Lewis (of O. Kurkdjian), Sourabaya, whose photographs
of Tosari and the volcanic region of Eastern Java form one of the
finest and most artistic collections we have seen of landscape work.


  SINGAPORE, _July, 1908_.




CONTENTS.


  FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF BATAVIA              1

  THE BRITISH IN JAVA                      15

  BOTANIST'S PARADISE AT BUITENZORG        23

  ON THE ROAD TO SINDANGLAYA               33

  SINDANGLAYA AND BEYOND                   42

  HINDU RUINS IN CENTRAL JAVA              49

  THE TEMPLES OF PARAMBANAN                58

  PEOPLE AND INDUSTRIES OF CENTRAL JAVA    65

  THE HEALTH RESORT OF EAST JAVA           73

  SUNRISE AT THE PENANDJAAN PASS           77

  HOTELS AND TRAVELLING FACILITIES         87




First Impressions of Batavia.


When consideration is given to the fact that Java is only two days'
steaming from Singapore, that it is more beautiful in some respects than
Japan, that it contains marvellous archaeological remains over 1,100
years old, and that its hill resorts form ideal resting places for the
jaded European, it is strange that few of the British residents
throughout the Far East, or travellers East and West, have visited the
Dutch Colony.

The average Britisher, weaving the web of empire, passes like a shuttle
in the loom from London to Yokohama, from Hongkong to Marseilles. He
thinks imperially in that he thinks no other nation has Colonies worth
seeing. British port succeeds British port on the hackneyed line of
travel, and he may be excused if he forgets that these convenient
calling places, these links of Empire, can have possible rivals under
foreign flags.

There is no excuse for the prevailing ignorance of the Netherland
Indies. We do not wish it to be inferred that we imagine we have
discovered Java, as Dickens is said to have discovered Italy, but we
believe we are justified in saying that few have realised the
possibilities of Java as a health resort and the attractions it has to
offer for a holiday.

Miss Marianne North, celebrated as painter and authoress and the rival
of Miss Mary Kingsley and Mrs. Bishop (Isabella Bird) as a traveller in
unfrequented quarters of the globe, has described the island as one
magnificent garden, surpassing Brazil, Jamaica and other countries
visited by her, and possessing the grandest of volcanoes; and other
famous travellers have written in terms of the highest praise of its
natural beauties.

Its accessibility is one of its recommendations to the holiday maker.
The voyage across the Equator from Singapore is a smooth one, for the
most part through narrow straits and seldom out of sight of islands clad
with verdure down to the water's edge.

Excellent accommodation is provided by the Rival Dutch Mail steamers
running between Europe and Java and the Royal Packet Company's local
steamers, and the Government of the Netherland Indies co-operates with a
recently-formed Association for the encouragement of tourist traffic on
the lines of the Welcome Society in Japan. This Association has a
bureau, temporarily established in the Hotel des Indes in Batavia, to
provide information and travelling facilities for tourists, not only
throughout Java, but amongst the various islands that are being brought
under the sway of civilised government by the Dutch Colonial forces.

As our steamer pounded her way out of Singapore Harbour in the early
morning, islands appeared to spring out of the sea, and seascape after
seascape followed in rapid succession, suggesting the old-fashioned
panoramic pictures of childhood's acquaintance. One's idea of scenery,
after all, is more or less a matter of comparison. One passenger
compares the scene with the Kyles of Bute; another with the Inland Sea
of Japan, at the other end of the world. Yet, this tropical waterway is
unlike either, and has a characteristic individuality of its own, none
the less charming because of the comparisons it suggests and the
associations it recalls.

We spent a good deal of our time on the bridge with the Captain, who was
courteous enough to point out all the leading points on his chart.

The Sultanate of Rhio lies on the port bow, four hours' sail from
Singapore. Glimpses of Sumatra are obtained on the starboard, and on the
way the steamer passes near to the Island of Banka, reputed to contain
the richest tin deposits in the world. This tin is worked by the
Government of the Netherland Indies, with Chinese contract labour; and
the revenue obtained is an important factor in balancing the Colonial
Budget. It is interesting to note that the Chinese, who have long mined
for gold and tin in the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago, were quite
familiar with the rich nature of Banka's soil two hundred years ago, and
that tin from this island was then a common medium of exchange in China
and throughout the Far East wherever the adventurous Chinese merchant
had penetrated.

The visitor landing at Tandjong Priok, the port of Batavia, after his
experience of other Far Eastern ports, cannot fail to be struck by the
excellence of the arrangements for berthing vessels and for storing
cargo. We British people are so accustomed to the idea that our ports
are the best and our trading arrangements unequalled that we are
astonished when we discover that our shipping and commercial rivals know
how to do some things better than ourselves, and that all wisdom is not
to be found within the confines of England and among the people who are
proud to own it as their place of birth. Our Far Eastern ports owe their
supremacy to geographical position almost entirely. We have realised
that during recent years in Singapore, and in our haste to correct the
mistakes of former officials and residents, the Straits Settlements paid
rather heavily when they expropriated the Tanjong Pagar Company which
owned the wharves, docks and warehouses. Tandjong Priok may not handle
the shipping that Tanjong Pagar does, but if they were called upon to do
so, we have not the least doubt that our Dutch neighbours would rise
readily to the occasion.

There is a Customs examination at Tandjong Priok. In our own case, it
was a mere formality, the new duty on imported cameras not applying to
our well-used kodak, since it was being taken out of the country again.
But we could not help contrasting to the disadvantage of Singapore the
examination of Chinese and other Asiatic passengers. Theoretically, in
Singapore, there is no Customs service. It is a free port, and so,
theoretically, one may land there free of vexatious examinations, such
as one experiences at some Continental ports or on the wharves at San
Francisco. But, as a matter of fact, they who have occasion to walk
along the sea front in Singapore may see Asiatic passengers at any of
the landing places turning out their baggage in sun or rain, while
chentings--the hirelings of the rich Chinese Syndicate which "farms" or
leases the opium and spirit monopolies--examine it for opium or spirits.
There is no proper landing place, absolutely no proper arrangements for
overhauling baggage, with the result that these poor Asiatics are
subjected to examination under conditions that are a disgrace to a place
which arrogates a front place in the seaports of the world.

They do things better at Tandjong Priok.

There is a brief journey by train to Batavia, and there the visitor,
having handed over his baggage to the care of the hotel runners at
Tandjong Priok, ought to take a sado for conveyance to the particular
hotel he has selected. The word sado is a corruption of "dos-a-dos." The
vehicle is drawn by a small pony, and is not comparable with the ricksha
for comfort, though the long distances may make the ricksha an
impossibility in Batavia.

[Illustration: THE TOWN HALL.]

Batavia is favoured in that it has a choice of several good hotels.
Whoever selects the Hotel Nederland or the Hotel des Indes will say that
the other "best Hotels in the Far East" have something yet to learn in
the accommodation of visitors, general cleanliness, and moderation of
prices.

One of the first things one ought to do after arrival is to obtain the
"toelatingskaart," at the Town Hall. Armed with this document, which,
most probably, he will never be called upon to show, the tourist may
travel in the interior. Without it, he may have trouble.

Batavia shares with the French ports of Saigon and Hanoi the honour of
more resembling a European town than any other ports in the Far East.
This, of course, is a matter of opinion, though it is based on
acquaintance with every port of importance from Yokohama to Penang,
including the principal ports of the Philippines, and we were somewhat
surprised, therefore, when expressing this opinion to a Dutch friend,
with his reply:

"When I left Singapore, with its fine buildings I felt I had said
good-bye to Europe!"

A little probing soon showed that it was only the two and three-storeyed
houses that created this impression.

[Illustration: HOTEL DES INDES.]

One has only to stroll along the Noordwijk in the afternoon and evening
to appreciate the difference between Batavia and Singapore. After
sundown, so far as Europeans are concerned, with the exception of the
little life seen under the electric light of Raffles Hotel and the Hotel
de l'Europe, Singapore is a dead place. Hongkong is no better. In
Batavia it is different. Up to the dinner hour, and after, there is a
considerable amount of life and light and animation, and if it be a
stretch of the imagination to compare the Noordwijk or the Rijswijk with
the Boulevard des Capuchins in Paris, or its open air restaurants with
the Cafe de la Paix, it is at least within comparison to say that the
resemblance to a Continental town is sufficiently marked to be welcome,
while one can have as choice a dinner or supper, with superb wines, in
Stamm and Weijns or the Hotel des Indes as in the best restaurants of
London and Paris. Not the least noticeable feature of all to the
observant visitor will be the punctilio and excellence of the waiting of
the Javanese table boys. When one saw the carefulness with which each
dish was served, and the superior nature of the side dishes, one thought
with a shudder of the sloppy vegetables, the dusty marmalade, and the
slipshod waiting of the China boy in some of the hotels it had been our
misfortune to patronise in British Colonies.

In this quarter, the wives and daughters of the Dutch and foreign
merchants drive in comfortable rubber-tyred carriages, having first
driven to the business quarter to bring home the "tuan besar" or head of
the family. Greetings are exchanged with friends by the way, and, while
the young folks stroll off in happy groups, the elders alight to drink
beer or wine at one or other of the famous open-air restaurants. There
is a general air of prosperity and a spirit of gaiety which one does not
usually associate with our Dutch cousins in the depressing humid
atmosphere of Holland. One soon catches the spirit of the place the more
readily if one has spent any time on the Continent.

On band nights the Harmonie or Concordia Clubs, two beautiful and
commodious buildings replete with every comfort, become the rendezvous
of old and young, and dancing is kept up till half-past eight o'clock.
It must be confessed that it made one perspire to see the dancers tread
a measure to a popular waltz, but there could be no question of the
enjoyment of those who participated.

There are two Batavias. There is the old town, founded in 1619 as the
capital of the Dutch East Indies upon the ruins of the ancient city of
Jakatra. This is the portion of the town where the business is done,
with the famous Kali Besar, the Lombard Street and Fenchurch Street of
Batavia.

The quarter is not particularly attractive. But after experience of the
filthy Chinese quarters of Singapore, Hongkong and Shanghai, it is
satisfying to European self-respect to observe how Dutch officialdom has
asserted the claims of hygiene and cleanliness upon the Asiatic
residents. The objectionable hanging Chinese signboards are noticeably
absent in Batavia, as in all other towns throughout Java, and something
has been done to make less clamant the odoriferous articles of Chinese
commerce. The Dutch have proved that the Chinese are amenable to
European notions if only firmness is shown by those in authority.

Then there is the residential town, Weltevreden with its broad
tree-lined avenues and palatial pavilion hotels and private villa
establishments.

In style, the European houses are quite unlike those erected by the
Spaniards in the Philippine Islands, or the British in the Malay
Peninsula. They are not raised to any great height from the ground.
Three or four wide low steps lead on to a capacious white marble
verandah, the lofty roof of which is supported by shapely pillars with
Grecian cornices. Upon the polished surface of the ample hall are strewn
rugs of beautiful design or the fancy straw matting of the East.
Bed-rooms open on either side from this hall, and at the back, opening
out upon a spacious court-yard or garden filled with gaily 
flowers or stately palms, is another wide verandah where meals are
served. The bath-rooms, kitchen, stables, store-rooms and servants'
quarters lie beyond the garden. There is everywhere a generous
appreciation of space, and doubtless the good health enjoyed by the
Dutch ladies and their families so markedly in contrast to the British
colonists on the other side of the Equator is largely due to the more
comfortable homes in which they are settled. In Java, the bath-room is a
special feature, and only those who have travelled much in tropical
countries can appraise it at its true value. It is all in keeping with
the thorough cleanliness of the Dutch people, a feature which impressed
itself upon us wherever we travelled throughout the island. Detached
from every house of any pretensions, there is a smaller pavilion. It
usually stands in the grounds in front and nearer the roadway, and in
former times was spoken of as "the guest house." Nowadays, either
because the Hotels are more comfortable than in olden times or because
the railway system has led to a style of life that calls for less
hospitality for travellers, the guest house is more often let to
bachelors, who find it easier and cheaper to maintain a small
establishment of this sort than the bachelor messes or chummeries of
Singapore and Penang.

Weltervreden may be compared with a gigantic park, and there are
residences sufficiently imposing to please the lover of architectural
beauty, even if there is no assertive Clock Tower to emphasise by
contrast the hovels of Singapore's region of slums. The idea of keeping
the various races to their Kampongs may be contrary to British ideas,
but in Java it appears to work satisfactorily enough. It is only in
recent years that certain British colonies have been allowed to set
apart reservations for European residence, and it would be well if the
Government of the Federated Malay States, before it is too late,
introduced the Kampong system in laying out new towns throughout the
Peninsula.

A motor-car ride through the residential quarter and round the suburbs
of Batavia gives one a good idea of the extent of the town, and,
incidentally, of the merging of East and West in the population. Former
Dutch residents have left their impress in more respects than one, and
one result is a half-caste population which takes a much more prominent
part in the affairs of the island than is the case, so far as we are
aware, in any British Colony. There are pretty forms and beautiful faces
among this hybrid race, and we are not astonished that succeeding
generations from the land of <DW18>s and canals should form alliances that
wed them for ever to the sunny soil of Java. East may be East and West
may be West, but here at least the lie is given to Kipling's
generalisation, false like most generalisations, as to the impossibility
of their blending.

The visitor will find the Museums full of objects of interest. On
Koningsplein, young Holland devotes itself to recreation, and evidence
is given here and elsewhere throughout the suburbs of the widespread
popularity of the English game of football. The Dutch do not follow the
British Colonial custom of sending their children to Europe. Many are
educated and kept under the home influence in Java, and a fine healthy
race of boys and girls is being reared to play its part in the new
Netherlands created by Dutch enterprise and perseverance. Great as is
the Java of the present day, there