The namemalignant jaundiceis sometimes applied to that very fatal form of disease otherwise termed acute yellow atrophy of the liver (seeAtrophy).
The namemalignant jaundiceis sometimes applied to that very fatal form of disease otherwise termed acute yellow atrophy of the liver (seeAtrophy).
JAUNPUR,a city and district of British India, in the Benares division of the United Provinces. The city is on the left bank of the river Gumti, 34 m. N.W. from Benares by rail. Pop. (1901), 42,771. Jaunpur is a very ancient city, the former capital of a Mahommedan kingdom which once extended from Budaun and Etawah to Behar. It abounds in splendid architectural monuments, most of which belong to the period when the rulers of Jaunpur were independent of Delhi. The fort of Feroz Shah is in great part completely ruined, but there remain a fine gateway of the 16th century, a mosque dating from 1376, and thehammamsor baths of Ibrahim Shah. Among other buildings may be mentioned the Atala Masjid (1408) and the ruined Jinjiri Masjid, mosques built by Ibrahim, the first of which has a great cloistered court and a magnificent façade; the Dariba mosque constructed by two of Ibrahim’s governors; the Lal Darwaza erected by the queen of Mahmud; the Jama Masjid (1438-1478) or great mosque of Husain, with court and cloisters, standing on a raised terrace, and in part restored in modern times; and finally the splendid bridge over the Gumti, erected by Munim Khan, Mogul governor in 1569-1573. During the Mutiny of 1857 Jaunpur formed a centre of disaffection. The city has now lost its importance, the only industries surviving being the manufacture of perfumes and papier-mâché articles.
TheDistrict of Jaunpurhas an area of 1551 sq. m. It forms part of the wide Gangetic plain, and its surface is accordingly composed of a thick alluvial deposit. The whole country is closely tilled, and no waste lands break the continuous prospect of cultivated fields. It is divided into two unequal parts by the sinuous channel of the Gumti, a tributary of the Ganges, which flows past the city of Jaunpur. Its total course within the district is about 90 m., and it is nowhere fordable. It is crossed by two bridges, one at Jaunpur and the other 2 m. lower down. The Gumti is liable to sudden inundations during the rainy season, owing to the high banks it has piled up at its entrance into the Ganges, which act as dams to prevent the prompt outflow of its flooded waters. These inundations extend to its tributary the Saī. Much damage was thus effected in 1774; but the greatest recorded flood took place in September 1871, when 4000 houses in the city were swept away, besides 9000 more in villages along its banks. The other rivers are the Saī, Barna, Pili and Basohi. Lakes are numerous in the north and south; the largest has a length of 8 m. Pop. (1901), 1,202,920, showing a decrease of 5% in the decade. Sugar-refining is the principal industry. The district is served by the line of the Oudh & Rohilkhand railway from Benares to Fyzabad, and by branches of this and of the Bengal & North-Western systems.
In prehistoric times Jaunpur seems to have formed a portion of the Ajodhya principality, and when it first makes an appearance in authentic history it was subject to the rulers of Benares. With the rest of their dominions it fell under the yoke of the Mussulman invaders in 1194. From that time the district appears to have been ruled by a prince of the Kanauj dynasty, as a tributary of the Mahommedan suzerain. In 1388 Mālik Sarwar Khwāja was sent by Mahommed Tughlak to govern the eastern province. He fixed his residence at Jaunpur, made himself independent of the Delhi court, and assumed the title of Sultan-us-Shark, or “eastern emperor.” For nearly a centurythe Sharki dynasty ruled at Jaunpur, and proved formidable rivals to the sovereigns of Delhi. The last of the dynasty was Sultan Husain, who passed his life in a fierce and chequered struggle for supremacy with Bahlol Lodi, then actual emperor at Delhi. At length, in 1478, Bahlol succeeded in defeating his rival in a series of decisive engagements. He took the city of Jaunpur, but permitted the conquered Husain to reside there, and to complete the building of his great mosque, the Jama Masjid, which now forms the chief ornament of the town. Many other architectural works in the district still bear witness to its greatness under its independent Mussulman rulers. In 1775 the district was made over to the British by the Treaty of Lucknow. From that time nothing occurred which calls for notice till the Mutiny. On the 5th of June 1857, when the news of the Benares revolt reached Jaunpur, the sepoys mutinied. The district continued in a state of complete anarchy till the arrival of the Gurkha force from Azamgarh in September. In November the surrounding country was lost again, and it was not till May 1858 that the last smouldering embers of disaffection were stifled by the repulse of the insurgent leader at the hands of the people themselves.
See A. Führer,The Shargi Architecture of Jaunpur(1889).
See A. Führer,The Shargi Architecture of Jaunpur(1889).
JAUNTING-CAR,a light two-wheeled carriage for a single horse, in its commonest form with seats for four persons placed back to back, with the foot-boards projecting over the wheels. It is the typical conveyance for persons in Ireland (seeCar). The first part of the word is generally taken to be identical with the verb “to jaunt,” now only used in the sense of to go on a short pleasure excursion, but in its earliest uses meaning to make a horse caracole or prance, hence to jolt or bump up and down. It would apparently be a variant of “jaunce,” of the same meaning, which is supposed to be taken from O. Fr.jancer. Skeat takes the origin of jaunt and jaunce to be Scandinavian, and connects them with the Swedish dialect wordganta, to romp; and he finds cognate bases in such words as “jump,” “high jinks.” The word “jaunty,” sprightly, especially used of anything done with an easy nonchalant air, is a corruption of “janty,” due to confusion with “jaunt.” “Janty,” often spelt in the 17th and 18th centuries “janté” or “jantee,” represents the English pronunciation of Fr.gentil, well-bred, neat, spruce.
JAUREGUI, JUAN(1562-1582), a Biscayan by birth, was in 1582 in the service of a Spanish merchant, Gaspar d’Anastro, who was resident at Antwerp. Tempted by the reward of 80,000 ducats offered by Philip II. of Spain for the assassination of William the Silent, prince of Orange, but being himself without courage to undertake the task, d’Anastro, with the help of his cashier Venero, persuaded Jauregui to attempt the murder for the sum of 2877 crowns. On Sunday the 18th of March 1582, as the prince came out of his dining-room Jauregui offered him a petition, and William had no sooner taken it into his hand than Jauregui fired a pistol at his head. The ball pierced the neck below the right ear and passed out at the left jaw-bone; but William ultimately recovered. The assassin was killed on the spot.
JAURÉGUIBERRY, JEAN BERNARD(1815-1887), French admiral, was born at Bayonne on the 26th of August 1815. He entered the navy in 1831, was made a lieutenant in 1845, commander in 1856, and captain in 1860. After serving in the Crimea and in China, and being governor of Senegal, he was promoted to rear-admiral in 1869. He served on land during the second part of the Franco-German War of 1870-71, in the rank of auxiliary general of division. He was present at Coulmiers, Villépion and Loigny-Poupry, in command of a division, and in Chanzy’s retreat upon Le Mans and the battle at that place in command of a corps. He was the most distinguished of the many naval officers who did good service in the military operations. On the 9th of December he had been made vice-admiral, and in 1871 he commanded the fleet at Toulon; in 1875 he was a member of the council of admiralty; and in October 1876 he was appointed to command the evolutionary squadron in the Mediterranean. In February 1879 he became minister of the navy in the Waddington cabinet, and on the 27th of May following was elected a senator for life. He was again minister of the navy in the Freycinet cabinet in 1880. A fine example of the fighting French seaman of his time, Jauréguiberry died at Paris on the 21st of October 1887.
JÁUREGUI Y AGUILAR, JUAN MARTÍNEZ DE(1583-1641), Spanish poet, was baptized at Seville on the 24th of November 1583. In due course he studied at Rome, returning to Spain shortly before 1610 with a double reputation as a painter and a poet. A reference in the preface to theNovelas exemplareshas been taken to mean that he painted the portrait of Cervantes, who, in the second part ofDon Quixote, praises the translation of Tasso’sAmintapublished at Rome in 1607. Jáuregui’sRimas(1618), a collection of graceful lyrics, is preceded by a controversial preface which attracted much attention on account of its outspoken declaration againstculteranismo. Through the influence of Olivares, he was appointed groom of the chamber to Philip IV., and gave an elaborate exposition of his artistic doctrines in theDiscurso poético contra el hablar culto y oscuro(1624), a skilful attack on the new theories, which procured for its author the order of Calatrava. It is plain, however, that the shock of controversy had shaken Jáuregui’s convictions, and his poemOrfeo(1624) is visibly influenced by Góngora. Jáuregui died at Madrid on the 11th of January 1641, leaving behind him a translation of thePharsaliawhich was not published till 1684. This rendering reveals Jáuregui as a complete convert to the new school, and it has been argued that, exaggerating the affinities between Lucan and Góngora—both of Cordovan descent—he deliberately translated the thought of the earlier poet into the vocabulary of the later master. This is possible; but it is at least as likely that Jáuregui unconsciously yielded to the current of popular taste, with no other intention than that of conciliating the public of his own day.
JAURÈS, JEAN LÉON(1859- ), French Socialist leader, was born at Castres (Tarn) on the 3rd of September 1859. He was educated at the lycée Louis-le-Grand and the école normale supérieure, and took his degree as associate in philosophy in 1881. After teaching philosophy for two years at the lycée of Albi (Tarn), he lectured at the university of Toulouse. He was elected republican deputy for the department of Tarn in 1885. In 1889, after unsuccessfully contesting Castres, he returned to his professional duties at Toulouse, where he took an active interest in municipal affairs, and helped to found the medical faculty of the university. He also prepared two theses for his doctorate in philosophy,De primis socialismi germanici lineamentis apud Lutherum, Kant, Fichte et Hegel(1891), andDe la réalité du monde sensible. In 1902 he gave energetic support to the miners of Carmaux who went out on strike in consequence of the dismissal of a socialist workman, Calvignac; and in the next year he was re-elected to the chamber as deputy for Albi. Although he was defeated at the elections of 1898 and was for four years outside the chamber, his eloquent speeches made him a force in politics as an intellectual champion of socialism. He edited thePetite République, and was one of the most energetic defenders of Captain Alfred Dreyfus. He approved of the inclusion of M. Millerand, the socialist, in the Waldeck-Rousseau ministry, though this led to a split with the more revolutionary section led by M. Guesde. In 1902 he was again returned as deputy for Albi, and during the Combes administration his influence secured the coherence of the radical-socialist coalition known as thebloc. In 1904 he founded the socialist paper,L’Humanité. The French socialist groups held a congress at Rouen in March 1905, which resulted in a new consolidation; the new party, headed by MM. Jaurès and Guesde, ceased to co-operate with the radicals and radical-socialists, and became known as the unified socialists, pledged to advance a collectivist programme. At the general elections of 1906 M. Jaurès was again elected for the Tarn. His ability and vigour were now generally recognized; but the strength of the socialist party, and the practical activity of its leader, still had to reckon with the equally practical and vigorous liberalism of M. Clemenceau. The latter was able to appeal to his countrymen (in a notablespeech in the spring of 1906) to rally to a radical programme which had no socialist Utopia in view; and the appearance in him of a strong and practical radical leader had the result of considerably diminishing the effect of the socialist propaganda. M. Jaurès, in addition to his daily journalistic activity, publishedLes preuves; affaire Dreyfus(1900);Action socialiste(1899);Études socialistes(1902), and, with other collaborators,Histoire socialiste(1901), &c.
JAVA,one of the larger islands of that portion of the Malay Archipelago which is distinguished as the Sunda Islands. It lies between 105° 12′ 40″ (St Nicholas Point) and 114° 35′ 38″ E. (Cape Seloko) and between 5° 52′ 34″ and 8° 46′ 46″ S. It has a total length of 622 m. from Pepper Bay in the west to Banyuwangi in the east, and an extreme breadth of 121 m. from Cape Bugel in Japara to the coast of Jokjakarta, narrowing towards the middle to about 55 m. Politically and commercially it is important as the seat of the colonial government of the Dutch East Indies, all other parts of the Dutch territory being distinguished as the Outer Possessions (Buitenbezittungens). According to the triangulation survey (report published in 1901) the area of Java proper is 48,504 sq. m.; of Madura, the large adjacent and associated island, 1732; and of the smaller islands administratively included with Java and Madura 1416, thus making a total of 50,970 sq. m. The more important of these islands are the following: Pulau Panaitan or Princes Island (Prinseneiland), 47 sq. m., lies in the Sunda Strait, off the south-western peninsula of the main island, from which it is separated by the Behouden Passage. The Thousand Islands are situated almost due N. of Batavia. Of these five were inhabited in 1906 by about 1280 seafarers from all parts and their descendants. The Karimon Java archipelago, to the north of Semarang, numbers twenty-seven islands with an area of 16 sq. m. and a population of about 800 (having one considerable village on the main island). Bavian1(Bawian), 100 m. N. of Surabaya, is a ruined volcano with an area of 73 sq. m. and a population of about 44,000. About a third of the men are generally absent as traders or coolies. In Singapore and Sumatra they are known as Boyans. They are devout Mahommedans and many of them make the pilgrimage to Mecca. The Sapudi and Kangean archipelagoes are eastward continuations of Madura. The former, thirteen in all, with an area of 58 sq. m. and 53,000 inhabitants, export cattle, dried fish and trepang; and many of the male population work as day labourers in Java or as lumbermen in Sumbawa, Flores, &c. The main island of the Kangians has an area of 19 sq. m.; the whole group 23 sq. m. It is best known for its limestone caves and its buffaloes. Along the south coast the islands are few and small—Klapper or Deli, Trouwers or Tingal, Nusa Kembangan, Sempu and Nusa Barung.
From Sumatra on the W., Java is separated by the Sunda Strait, which at the narrowest is only 14 m. broad, but widens elsewhere to about 50 m. On the E. the strait of Bali, which parts it from the island of that name, is at the northern end not more than 1½ m. across. Through the former strong currents run for the greater part of the day throughout the year, outwards from the Java Sea to the Indian Ocean. In the strait of Bali the currents are perhaps even stronger and are extremely irregular. Pilots with local knowledge are absolutely necessary for vessels attempting either passage. In spite of the strength of the currents the Sunda Strait is steadily being diminished in width, and the process if continued must result in a restoration of that junction of Sumatra and Java which according to some authorities formerly existed.2
In general terms Java may be described as one of the breakwater islands of the Indian Ocean—part of the mountainous rim (continuous more or less completely with Sumatra) of the partially submerged plateau which lies between the ocean on the S. and the Chinese Sea on the N., and has the massive island of Borneo as its chief subaerial portion. While the waves and currents of the ocean sweep away most of the products of denudation along the south coast or throw a small percentage back in the shape of sandy downs, the Java Sea on the north—not more than 50 fathoms deep—allows them to settle and to form sometimes with extraordinary rapidity broad alluvial tracts.3
It is customary and obvious to divide Java into three divisions, the middle part of the island narrowing into a kind of isthmus, and each of the divisions thus indicated having certain structural characteristics of its own. West Java, which consists of Bantam, Krawang and the Preanger Regencies, has an area of upwards of 18,000 sq. m. In this division the highlands lie for the most part in a compact mass to the south and the lowlands form a continuous tract to the north. The main portion of the uplands consists of the Preanger Mountains, with the plateaus of Bandong, Pekalongan, Tegal, Badung and Gurut, encircled with volcanic summits. On the borders of the Preanger, Batavia and Bantam are the Halimon Mountains (the Blue Mountains of the older travellers), reaching their greatest altitudes in the volcanic summits of Gedeh and Salak. To the west lie the highlands of Bantam, which extending northward cut off the northern lowlands from the Sunda Strait. Middle Java is the smallest of the three divisions, having an area of not much more than 13,200 sq. m. It comprises Tegal, Pekalongan, Banyumas, Bagelen, Kedu, Jokjakarta, Surakarta, and thus not only takes in the whole of the isthmus but encroaches on the broad eastern portion of the island. In the isthmus mountains are not so closely massedin the south nor the plains so continuous on the north. The watershed culminating in Slamet lies almost midway between the ocean and the Java Sea, and there are somewhat extensive lowlands in the south. In that part of middle Java which physically belongs to eastern Java there is a remarkable series of lowlands stretching almost right across the island from Semarang in the north to Jokjakarta in the south. Eastern Java comprises Rembang, Madiun, Kediri, Surabaya, Pasuruan and Besuki, and has an area of about 17,500 sq. m. In this division lowlands and highlands are intermingled in endless variety except along the south coast, where the watershed-range forms a continuous breakwater from Jokjakarta to Besuki. The volcanic eminences, instead of rising in lines or groups, are isolated.For its area Java is one of the most distinctly volcanic regions of the world. Volcanic forces made it, and volcanic forces have continued to devastate and fertilize it. According to R. D. M. Verbeek about 125 volcanic centres can be distinguished, a number which may be increased or diminished by different methods of classification. It is usual to arrange the volcanoes in the following groups: westernmost Java 11 (all extinct); Preanger 50 (5 active); Cheribon 2 (both extinct); Slamet 2 (1 active); middle Java 16 (2 active); Murio 2 (both extinct); Lavu 2 (extinct); Wilis 2 (extinct); east Java 21 (5 active). The active volcanoes of the present time are Gedeh, Tangkuban, Prahu, Gutar, Papandayan, Galung-gung, Slamet, Sendor, Merapi,4Kalut (or Klut), Bromo, Semeru, Lamongan, Raung, but the activity of many of these is trifling, consisting of slight ejections of steam and scoriae.The plains differ in surface and fertility, according to their geological formation. Built up of alluvium and diluvium, the plains of the north coast-lands in western and middle Java are at their lowest levels, near the mouths of rivers and the sea, in many cases marshy and abounding in lakes and coral remains, but for the rest they are fertile and available for culture. The plains, too, along the south coast of middle Java—of Banyumas and Bagelen—contain many morasses as well as sandy stretches and dunes impeding the outlet of the rivers. They are, nevertheless, available for the cultivation more particularly of rice, and are thickly peopled. In eastern Java, again, the narrow coast plains are to be distinguished from the wider plains lying between the parallel chains of limestone and between the volcanoes. The narrow plains of the north coast are constituted of yellow clay and tuffs containing chalk, washed down by the rivers from the mountain chains and volcanoes. Like the western plains, they, too, are in many cases low and marshy, and fringed with sand and dunes. The plains, on the other hand, at some distance from the sea, or lying in the interior of eastern Java, such as Surakarta, Madiun, Kediri, Pasuruan, Probolinggo and Besuki, owe their formation to the volcanoes at whose bases they lie, occupying levels as high as 1640 ft. down to 328 ft. above the sea, whence they decline to the lower plains of the coast. Lastly, the plains of Lusi, Solo and Brantas, lying between the parallel chains in Japara, Rembang and Surabaya, are in part the product of rivers formerly flowing at a higher level of 30 to 60 or 70 ft., in part the product of the sea, dating from a time when the northern part of the above-named residencies was an island, such as Madura, the mountains of which are the continuation of the north parallel chain, is still.The considerable rivers of western Java all have their outlets on the north coast, the chief among them being the Chi (Dutch Tji) Tarum and the Chi Manuk. They are navigable for native boats and rafts, and are used for the transport of coffee and salt. On the south coast the Chi Tanduwi, on the east of the Preanger, is the only stream available as a waterway, and this only for a few miles above its mouth. In middle Java, also, the rivers discharging at the north coast—the Pamali, Chomal, &c.—are serviceable for the purposes of irrigation and cultivation, but are navigable only near their mouths. The rivers of the south coast—Progo, Serayu, Bogowonto, and Upak, enriched by rills from the volcanoes—serve abundantly to irrigate the plains of Bagelen, Banyumas, &c. Their stony beds, shallows and rapids, and the condition of their mouths lessen, however, their value as waterways. More navigable are the larger rivers of eastern Java. The Solo is navigable for large praus, or native boats, as far up as Surakarta, and above that town for lighter boats, as is also its affluent the Gentung. The canal constructed in 1893 at the lower part of this river, and alterations effected at its mouth, have proved of important service both in irrigating the plain and facilitating the river’s outlet into the sea. The Brantas is also navigable in several parts. The smaller rivers of eastern Java are, however, much in the condition of those of western Java. They serve less as waterways than as reservoirs for the irrigation of the fertile plains through which they flow.The north coast of Java presents everywhere a low strand covered with nipa or mangrove, morasses and fishponds, sandy stretches and low dunes, shifting river-mouths and coast-lines, ports and roads, demanding continual attention and regulation. The south coast is of a different make. The dunes of Banyumas, Bagelen, and Jokjakarta, ranged in three ridges, rising to 50 ft. high, and varying in breadth from 300 to over 1600 ft., liable, moreover, to transformation from tides and the east monsoon, oppose everywhere, also in Preanger and Besuki, a barrier to the discharge of the rivers and the drainage of the coast-lands. They assist the formation of lagoons and morasses. At intervals in the dune coast, running in the direction of the limestone mountains, there tower up steep inaccessible masses of land, showing neither ports nor bays, hollowed out by the sea, rising in perpendicular walls to a height of 160 ft. above sea-level. Sometimes two branches project at right angles from the chain on to the coast, forming a low bay between the capes or ends of the projecting branches, from 1000 to 1600 ft. high. Such a formation occurs frequently along the coast of Besuki, presenting a very irregular coast-line. Of course the north coast is of much greater commercial importance than the south coast.Geology.—With the exception of a few small patches of schist, supposed to be Cretaceous, the whole island, so far as is known, is covered by deposits of Tertiary and Quaternary age. The ancient “schist formation,” which occurs in Sumatra, Borneo, &c., does not rise to the surface anywhere in Java itself, but it is visible in the island of Karimon Java off the north coast. The Cretaceous schists have yielded fossils only at Banjarnegara, where a limestone with Orbitolina is interstratified with them. They are succeeded unconformably by Eocene deposits, consisting of sandstones with coal-seams and limestones containing Nummulites, Alveolina and Orthophragmina; and these beds are as limited in extent as the Cretaceous schists themselves. Sedimentary deposits of Upper Tertiary age are widely spread, covering about 38% of the surface. They consist of breccias, marls and limestones containing numerous fossils, and are for the most part Miocene but probably include a part of the Pliocene also. They were laid down beneath the sea, but have since been folded and elevated to considerable heights. Fluviatile deposits of late Pliocene age have been found in the east of Java, and it was in these that the remarkable anthropoid ape or ape-like man,Pithecanthropus erectusof Dubois, was discovered. The Quaternary deposits lie horizontally upon the upturned edges of the Tertiary beds. They are partly marine and partly fluviatile, the marine deposits reaching to a height of some 350 ft. above the sea and thus indicating a considerable elevation of the island in recent times.The volcanic rocks of Java are of great importance and cover about 28% of the island. The eruptions began in the middle of the Tertiary period, but did not attain their maximum until Quaternary times, and many of the volcanoes are still active. Most of the cones seem to lie along faults parallel to the axis of the island, or on short cross fractures. The lavas and ashes are almost everywhere andesites and basalts, with a little obsidian. Some of the volcanoes, however, have erupted leucite rocks. Similar rocks, together with phonolite, occur in the island of Bavian.5Climate.—Our knowledge of the climate of Batavia, and thus of that of the lowlands of western Java, is almost perfect; but, rainfall excepted, our information as to the climate of Java as a whole is extremely defective. The dominant meteorological facts are simple and obvious: Java lies in the tropics, under an almost vertical sun, and thus has a day of almost uniform length throughout the year.6It is also within the perpetual influence of the great atmospheric movements passing between Asia and Australia; and is affected by the neighbourhood of vast expanses of sea and land (Borneo and Sumatra). There are no such maxima of temperature as are recorded from the continents. The highest known at Batavia was 96° F. in 1877 and the lowest 66° in the same year. The mean annual temperature is 79°. The warmest months are May and October, registering 79.5° and 79.46° respectively; the coldest January and February with 77.63° and 77.7° respectively. The daily range is much greater; at one o’clock the thermometer has a mean height of 84°; after two o’clock it declines to about 73° at six o’clock; the greatest daily amplitude is in August and the least in January and February. Eastern Java and the inland plains of middle Java are said to be hotter, but scientific data are few. A very slight degree of elevation above the seaboard plains produces a remarkable difference in the climate, not so much in its mere temperature as in its influence on health. The dwellers in the coast towns are surprised at the invigorating effects of a change to health resorts from 300 to 1200 ft. above sea-level; and at greater elevations it may be uncomfortably cold at night, with chilly mists and occasional frosts. The year is divided into two seasons by the prevailing winds: the rainy season, that of the west monsoon, lasting from November to March, and the dry season, that of the east monsoon, during the rest of the year; the transition from one monsoon to another—the “canting” of the monsoons—being marked byirregularities. On the whole, the east monsoon blows steadily for a longer period than the west. The velocity of the wind is much less than in Europe—not more in the annual mean at Batavia than 3 ft. per second, against 12 to 18 ft. in Europe. The highest velocity ever observed at Batavia was 25 ft. Wind-storms are rare and hardly ever cyclonic. There are as a matter of course a large number of purely local winds, some of them of a very peculiar kind, but few of these have been scientifically dealt with. Thunder-storms are extremely frequent; but the loss of life from lightning is probably diminished by the fact that the palm-trees are excellent conductors. At night the air is almost invariably still. The average rainfall at Batavia is 72.28 in. per annum, of which 51.49 in. are contributed by the west monsoon. The amount varies considerably from year to year: in 1889, 1891 and 1897 there were about 47.24 in.; in 1868 and 1877 nearly 51.17, and in 1872 and 1882 no less than 94.8. There are no long tracts of unbroken rainfall and no long periods of continuous drought. The rainfall is heaviest in January, but it rains only for about one-seventh of the time. Next in order come February, March and December. August, the driest month, has from three to five days of rain, though the amount is usually less than an inch and not more than one and a half inches. The popular description of the rain falling not in drops but streams was proved erroneous by J. Wiesner’s careful observations (seeKais. Akad. d. Wiss. Math. Naturw. Cl.Bd. xiv., Vienna, 1895), which have been confirmed by A. Woeikof (“Regensintensität und Regendauer in Batavia” inZ. für Met., 1907). The greatest rainfall recorded in an hour (4.5 in.) is enormously exceeded by records even in Europe. From observations taken for the meteorological authorities at a very considerable number of stations, J. H. Boeseken constructed a map in 1900 (Tijdschr. v. h. Kon. Ned. Aardr. Gen., 1900; reproduced in Veth,Java, iii. 1903). Among the outstanding facts are the following. The south coasts of both eastern and middle Java have a much heavier rainfall than the north. Majalenka has an annual fall of 175 in. In western Java the maximal district consists of a great ring of mountains from Salak and Gedeh in the west to Galung-gung in the east, while the enclosed plateau-region of Chanjur Bandung and Garut are not much different from the seaboard. The whole of middle Java, with the exception of the north coast, has a heavy rainfall. At Chilachap the annual rainfall is 151.43 in., 87.8 in. of which is brought by the south-east monsoon. The great belt which includes the Slamet and the Dieng, and the country on the south coast between Chilachap and Parigi, are maximal. In comparison the whole of eastern Java, with the exception of the mountains from Wilis eastward to Ijen, has a low record which reaches its lowest along the north coast.7Fauna.—In respect of its fauna Java differs from Borneo, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula far more than these differ among themselves; and, at the same time, it shows a close resemblance to the Malay Peninsula, on the one hand, and to the Himalayas on the other. Of the 176 mammals of the whole Indo-Malayan region the greater number occur in Java. Of these 41 are found on the continent of Asia, 8 are common to Java and Borneo, and 6 are common to Java and Sumatra (see M. Weber,Das Indo-Malay Archipelago und die Geschichte seiner Thierwelt, Jena, 1902). No genus and only a few species are confined to the island. Of the land-birds only a small proportion are peculiar. The elephant, the tapir, the bear, and various other genera found in the rest of the region are altogether absent. The Javanese rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sundaicus;sarakin Javanese,badakin Sundanese), the largest of the mammals on the island, differs from that of Sumatra in having one horn instead of two. It ranges over the highest mountains, and its regular paths, worn into deep channels, may be traced up the steepest slopes and round the rims of even active volcanoes. Two species of wild swine,Sus vittatusandSus verrucosus, are exceedingly abundant, the former in the hot, the latter in the temperate, region; and their depredations are the cause of much loss to the natives, who, however, being Mahommedans, to whom pork is abhorrent, do not hunt them for the sake of their flesh. Not much less than the rhinoceros is the banteng (Bibos bantengorsundaicus) found in all the uninhabited districts between 2000 and 7000 ft. of elevation. The kidang or muntjak (Cervulus muntjac) and the rusa or russa (Rusa hippelaphusorRussa russa) are the representatives of the deer kind. The former is a delicate little creature occurring singly or in pairs both in the mountains and in the coast districts; the latter lives in herds of fifty to a hundred in the grassy opens, giving excellent sport to the native hunters. Another species (Russa kuhlii) exists in Bavian. The kantjil (Tragulus javanicus) is a small creature allied to the musk-deer but forming a genus by itself. It lives in the high woods, for the most part singly, seldom in pairs. It is one of the most peculiar of the Javanese mammals. The royal tiger, the same species as that of India, is still common enough to make a tiger-hunt a characteristic Javanese scene. The leopard (Felis pardus) is frequent in the warm regions and often ascends to considerable altitudes. Black specimens occasionally occur, but the spots are visible on inspection; and the fact that in the Amsterdam zoological gardens a black leopard had one of its cubs black and the other normally spotted shows that this is only a case of melanism. In the tree-tops the birds find a dangerous enemy in the matjan rembak, or wild cat (Felis minuta), about the size of a common cat. The dog tribe is represented by the fox-like adjag (CuonorCanis sutilans) which hunts in ferocious packs; and by a wild dog,Canis tenggeranus, if this is not now exterminated. The Cheiroptera hold a prominent place in the fauna, the principal genera beingPteropus,Cynonycteris,CynopterusandMacroglossus. Remarkable especially for size is the kalong, or flying fox,Pteropus edulis, a fruit-eating bat, which may be seen hanging during the day in black clusters asleep on the trees, and in the evening hastening in long lines to the favourite feeding grounds in the forest. The damage these do to the young coco-nut trees, the maize and the sugar-palms leads the natives to snare and shoot them; and their flesh is a favourite food with Europeans, who prefer to shoot them by night as, if shot by day, they often cling after death to the branches. Smaller kinds of bats are most abundant, perhaps the commonest beingScotophilus Temminckii. In certain places they congregate in myriads, like sea-fowl on the cliffs, and their excrement produces extensive guano deposits utilized by the people of Surakarta and Madiun. The creature known to the Europeans as the flying-cat and to the natives as the kubin is theGaleopithecus volansorvariagatus—a sort of transition from the bats to the lemuroids. Of these last Java has several species held in awe by the natives for their supposed power of fascination. The apes are represented by the wou-wou (Hylobates leuciscus), the lutung, and kowi (Semnopithecus maurusandpyrrhus), the surili (Semnopithecus mitratus), and the munyuk (Cercocebus, orMacacus, cynamolgos), the most generally distributed of all. From sunrise to sunset the wou-wou makes its presence known, especially in the second zone where it congregates in the trees, by its strange cry, at times harsh and cacophonous, at times weird and pathetic. The lutung or black ape also prefers the temperate region, though it is met with as high as 7000 ft. above the sea and as low as 2000. TheCercocebusor grey ape keeps for the most part to the warm coast lands. Rats (including the brown Norway rat, often calledMus javanicus, as if it were a native; a great plague); mice in great variety; porcupines (Acanthion javanicum); squirrels (five species) and flying squirrels (four species) represent the rodents. A hare,Lepus nigricollis, originally from Ceylon, has a very limited habitat; the Insectivora comprise a shrew-mouse (Rachyura indica), two species of tupaya andHylomys suilluspeculiar to Java and Sumatra. The nearest relation to the bears isArctictis binturong.Mydaus melicepsandHelictis orientalisrepresent the badgers. In the upper part of the mountains occursMustela Henrici, and an otter (Aonyx leptonyx) in the streams of the hot zone. The coffee rat (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus), a civet cat (Viverricida indica), the Javanese ichneumon (Herpestes javanicus), andPriodon gracilismay also be mentioned.In 1820, 176 species of birds were known in Java; by 1900 Vorderman and O. Finsch knew 410. Many of these are, of course, rare and occupy a limited habitat far from the haunts of man. Others exist in myriads and are characteristic features in the landscape. Water-fowl of many kinds, ducks, geese, storks, pelicans, &c., give life to sea-shore and lake, river and marsh. Snipe-shooting is afavouritesport. Common night-birds are the owl (Strix flammea) and the goat-sucker (Caprimulgus affinis). Three species of hornbill, the year-bird of the older travellers (Buceros plicatus,lunatusandalbirostris) live in the tall trees of the forest zone. The Javanese peacock is a distinct species (Pavo muticusorspiciferus), and even exceeds the well-known Indian species in the splendour of its plumage.Gallus Bankivais famous as the reputed parent of all barn-door fowls;Gallus furcatusis an exquisitely beautiful bird and can be trained for cock-fighting. Of parrots two species only are known:Palaeornis Alexandriorjavanicusand the pretty little grass-greenCuryllis pusilla, peculiar to Java. As talkers and mimics they are beaten by theGracula javanensis, a favourite cage-bird with the natives. A cuckoo,Chrysococcyx basalis, may be heard in the second zone. The grass-fields are the foraging-grounds of swarms of weaver-birds (Plocula javanensisandPloccus baya). They lay nearly as heavy a toll on the rice-fields as the gelatiks (Munia oryzivora), which are everywhere the rice-growers’ principal foe. Hawks and falcons make both an easy prey. TheNictuarinasor honey-birds (eight species) take the place of the humming-bird, which they rival in beauty and diminutiveness, ranging from the lowlands to an altitude of 4000 ft. In the upper regions the birds, like the plants, are more like those of Europe, and some of them—notably the kanchilan (Hyloterpe Philomela)—are remarkable for their song. The edible-nest swallow (Collocalia fuciphaga) builds in caves in many parts of the island.8As far back as 1859 P. Bleeker credited Java with eleven hundred species of fish; and naturalists are perpetually adding to the number.9In splendour and grotesqueness of colouring many kinds, as is well known, look rather like birds than fish. In the neighbourhood of Batavia about three hundred and eighty species are used as food by the natives and the Chinese, who have added to the number by the introduction of the goldfish, which reaches a great size. The sea fish most prized by Europeans isLates calcarifer(a perch). Of more than one hundred species of snakes about twenty-four species(including the cobra di capella) are poisonous and these are responsible for the deaths of between one hundred and two hundred persons per annum. Adders and lizards are abundant. Geckos are familiar visitants in the houses of the natives. There are two species of crocodiles.As in other tropical-rain forest lands the variety and abundance of insects are amazing. At sundown the air becomes resonant for hours with their myriad voices. TheColeopteraand theLepidopteraform the glory of all great collections for their size and magnificence. Of butterflies proper five hundred species are known. Of the beetles one of the largest and handsomest isChalcosoma atlas. Among the spiders (a numerously represented order) the most notable is a bird-killing species,Selene scomia javanensis. In many parts the island is plagued with ants, termites and mosquitoes. Crops of all kinds are subject to disastrous attacks of creeping and winged foes—many still unidentified (see especially Snellen van Hollenhoven,Essai d’une faune entomologique de l’Archipel Indo-néerlandais). Of still lower forms of life the profusion is no less perplexing. Among the worms thePerichaeta musicareaches a length of about twenty inches and produces musical sounds. The shell of theTridacna gigasis the largest anywhere known.Flora.—For the botanist Java is a natural paradise, affording him the means of studying the effects of moisture and heat, of air-currents and altitudes, without the interference of superincumbent arctic conditions. The botanic gardens of Buitenzorg have long been famous for their wealth of material, the ability with which their treasures have been accumulated and displayed, their value in connexion with the economic development of the island and the extensive scientific literature published by their directors.10There is a special establishment at Chibodas open to students of all nations for the investigation on the spot of the conditions of the primeval forest. Hardly any similar area in the world has a flora of richer variety than Java. It is estimated that the total number of the species of plants is about 5000; but this is probably under the mark (De Candolle knew of 2605 phanerogamous species), and new genera and species of an unexpected character are from time to time discovered. The lower parts of the island are always in the height of summer. The villages and even the smaller towns are in great measure concealed by the abundant and abiding verdure; and their position in the landscape is to be recognized mainly by their groves, orchards and cultivated fields. The amount and distribution of heat and moisture at the various seasons of the year form the dominant factors in determining the character of the vegetation. Thus trees which are evergreen in west Java are deciduous in the east of the island, some dropping their leaves (e.g.Tetrameles nudiflora) at the very time they are in bloom or ripening their fruit. This and other contrasts are graphically described from personal observation by A. F. W. Schimper in hisPflanzen-Geographie auf physiologischer Grundlage(Jena, 1898). The abundance of epiphytes, orchids, pitcher-plants, mosses and fungi is a striking result of the prevalent humidity; and many trees and plants indeed, which in drier climates root in the soil, derive sufficient moisture from their stronger neighbours. Of orchids J. J. Smith records 562 species (100 genera), but the flowers of all except about a score are inconspicuous. This last fact is the more remarkable because, taken generally, the Javanese vegetation differs from that of many other tropical countries by being abundantly and often gorgeously floriferous. Many of the loftiest trees crown themselves with blossoms and require no assistance from the climbing plants that seek, as it were, to rival them in their display of colour. Shrubs, too, and herbaceous plants often give brilliant effects in the savannahs, the deserted clearings, the edges of the forest and the sides of the highways. Thelantana, a verbenaceous alien introduced, it is said, from Jamaica by Lady Raffles, has made itself aggressively conspicuous in many parts of the island, more especially in the Preanger and middle Java, where it occupies areas of hundreds of acres.The effect of mere altitude in the distribution of the flora was long ago emphasized by Friedrich Junghuhn, the Humboldt of Java, who divided the island into four vertical botanical zones—a division which has generally been accepted by his successors, though, like all such divisions, it is subject to many modifications and exceptions. The forest, or hot zone, extends to a height of 2000 ft. above the sea; the second, that of moderate heat, has its upper limit at about 4500; the third, or cool, zone reaches 7500; and the fourth, or coldest, comprises all that lies beyond. The lowest zone has, of course, the most extensive area; the second is only a fiftieth and the third a five-thousandth of the first; and the fourth is an insignificant remainder. The lowest is the region of the true tropical forest, of rice-fields and sugar-plantations, of coco-nut palms, cotton, sesamum, cinnamon and tobacco (though this last has a wide altitudinal range). Many parts of the coast (especially on the north) are fringed with mangrove (Rhizophora mucronata), &c., and species ofBruguiera; the downs have their characteristic flora—convolvulus andSpinifex squarrosuscatching the eye for very different reasons. Farther inland along the seaboard appear the nipa dwarf palm (Nipa fruticans), theAlsbonia scholaris(the wood of which is lighter than cork), Cycadacea, tree-ferns, screw pines (Pandanus), &c. In west Java the gebang palm (Corypha gebanga) grows in clumps and belts not far from but never quite close to the coast; and in east Java a similar position is occupied by the lontar (Borassus flabelliformis), valuable for its timber, its sago and its sugar, and in former times for its leaves, which were used as a writing-material. The fresh-water lakes and ponds of this region are richly covered with Utricularia and various kinds of lotus (Nymphaea lotus,N. stellata,Nelumbium speciosum, &c.) interspersed withPista stratiotesand other floating plants. Vast prairies are covered with the silvery alang-alang grass broken by bamboo thickets, clusters of trees and shrubs (Butea frondosa,Emblica officinalis, &c.) and islands of the taller erigedeh or glagah (Saccharum spontaneum). Alang-alang (Imperata arundinacea, Cyr. var. Bentham) grows from 1 to 4 ft. in height. It springs up wherever the ground is cleared of trees and is a perfect plague to the cultivator. It cannot hold its own, however, with the ananas, the kratok (Phaseolus lunatus) or the lantana; and, in the natural progress of events, the forest resumes its sway except where the natives encourage the young growth of the grass by annually setting the prairies on fire. The true forest, which occupies a great part of this region, changes its character as we proceed from west to east. In west Java it is a dense rain-forest in which the struggle of existence is maintained at high pressure by a host of lofty trees and parasitic plants in bewildering profusion. The preponderance of certain types is remarkable. Thus of the Moraceae there are in Java (and mostly here) seven genera with ninety-five species, eighty-three of which areFicus(see S. H. Koorders and T. Valeton, “Boomsoorten op Java” inBijdr. Mede. Dep. Landbower(1906). These include the so-called waringin, several kinds of figs planted as shade-trees in the parks of the nobles and officials. The Magnoliaceae and Anonaceae are both numerously represented. In middle Java the variety of trees is less, a large area being occupied by teak. In eastern Java the character of the forest is mainly determined by the abundance of the Casuarina or Chimoro (C. montanaandC. Junghuhniana). Another species,C. equisetifolia, is planted in west Java as an ornamental tree. These trees are not crowded together and encumbered with the heavy parasitic growths of the rain-forest; but their tall stems are often covered with multitudes of small vermilion fungi. Wherever the local climate has sufficient humidity, the true rain-forest claims its own. The second of Junghuhn’s zones is the region of, more especially, tea, cinchona and coffee plantations, of maize and the sugar palm (areng). In the forest the trees are richly clad with ferns and enormous fungi; there is a profusion of underwood (Pavetta macrophylla Javanicaandsalicifolia; several species ofLasianthus,Boehmarias,Strobilanthus, &c.), of woody lianas and ratans, of tree ferns (especially Alsophila). Between the bushes the ground is covered with ferns, lycopods, tradescantias, Bignoniaceae, species ofAeschynanthus. Of the lianas the largest isPlectocomia elongata; one specimen of which was found to have a length of nearly 790 ft. One of the fungi,Telephora princeps, is more than a yard in diameter. The trees are of different species from those of the hot zone even when belonging to the same genus; and new types appear mostly in limited areas. The third zone, which consists mainly of the upper slopes of volcanic mountains, but also comprises several plateaus (the Dieng, parts of the Tengger, the Ijen) is a region of clouds and mists. There are a considerable number of lakes and swamps in several parts of the region, and these have a luxuriant environment of grasses, Cyperaceae, Characeae and similar forms. The taller trees of the region—oaks, chestnuts, various Lauraceae, and four or five species ofPodocarpus—with some striking exceptions,Astronia spectabilis, &c., are less floriferous than those of the lower zones; but the shrubs (Rhododendron javanicum,Ardisia javanica, &c.), herbs and parasites more than make up for this defect. There is little cultivation, except in the Tengger, where the natives grow maize, rye and tobacco, and various European vegetables (cabbage, potatoes, &c.), with which they supply the lowland markets. In western Java one of the most striking features of the upper parts of this temperate region is what Schimper calls the “absolute dominion of mosses,” associated with the “elfin forest,” as he quaintly calls it, a perfect tangle of “low, thick, oblique or even horizontal stems,” almost choked to leaflessness by their grey and ghostly burden. Much of the lower vegetation begins to have a European aspect; violets, primulas, thalictrums, ranunculus, vacciniums, equisetums, rhododendrons (Rhod. retusum). ThePrimula imperialis, found only on the Pangerango, is a handsome species, prized by specialists. In the fourth or alpine zone occur such distinctly European forms asArtemisia vulgaris,Plantago major,Solanum nigrum,Stellaria media; and altogether the alpine flora contains representatives of no fewer than thirty-three families. A characteristic shrub isAnaphalis javanica, popularly called the Javanese edelweiss, which “often entirely excludes all other woody plants.”11The tallest and noblestof all the trees in the island is the rasamala or liquid-ambar (Altingia excelsa), which, rising with a straight clean trunk, sometimes 6 ft. in diameter at the base, to a height of 100 to 130 ft., spreads out into a magnificent crown of branches and foliage. When by chance a climbing plant has joined partnership with it, the combination of blossoms at the top is one of the finest colour effects of the forest. The rasamala, however, occurs only in the Preanger and in the neighbouring parts of Bantam and Buitenzorg. Of the other trees that may be classified as timber—from 300 to 400 species—many attain noble proportions. It is sufficient to mentionCalophyllum inophyllum, which forms fine woods in the south of Bantam,Mimusops acuminata,Irna glabra,Dalbergia latifolia(sun wood, English black-wood) in middle and east Java; the rare but splendidPithecolobium Junghuhnianum;Schima Noronhae,Bischofia javanica,Pterospermum javanicum(greatly prized for ship-building), and the upas-tree. From the economic point of view all these hundreds of trees are of less importance thanTectona grandis, the jati or teak, which, almost to the exclusion of all others, occupies about a third of the government forest-lands. It grows best in middle and eastern Java, preferring the comparatively dry and hot climate of the plains and lower hills to a height of about 2000 ft. above the sea, and thriving best in more or less calciferous soils. In June it sheds its leaves and begins to bud again in October. Full-grown trees reach a height of 100 to 150 ft. In 1895 teak (with a very limited quantity of other timber) was felled to the value of about £101,800, and in 1904 the corresponding figure was about £119,935.That an island which has for so long maintained a dense and growing population in its more cultivable regions should have such extensive tracts of primeval or quasi-primeval forest as have been above indicated would be matter of surprise to one who did not consider the simplicity of the life of the Javanese. They require but little fuel; and both their dwellings and their furniture are mostly constructed of bamboo supplemented with a palm or two. They destroy the forest mainly to get room for their rice-fields and pasture for their cattle. In doing this, however, they are often extremely reckless and wasteful; and if it had not been for the unusual humidity of the climate their annual fires would have resulted in widespread conflagrations. As it is, many mountains are now bare which within historic times were forested to the top; but the Dutch government has proved fully alive to the danger of denudation. The state has control of all the woods and forests of the island with the exception of those of the Preanger, the “particular lands,” and Madura; and it has long been engaged in replanting with native trees and experimenting with aliens from other parts of the world—Eucalyptus globulus, the juar,Cassia floridafrom Sumatra, the surian (Cedrela febrifuga), &c. The greatest success has been with cinchona.Left to itself Java would soon clothe itself again with even a richer natural vegetation than it had when it was first occupied by man. The open space left by the demolition of the fortifications on Nusa Kambangan was in twenty-eight years densely covered by thousands of shrubs and trees of about twenty varieties, many of the latter 80 ft. high. Resident Snijthoff succeeded about the close of the 19th century in re-afforesting a large part of Mount Muriå by the simple expedient of protecting the territory he had to deal with from all encroachments by natives.12
It is customary and obvious to divide Java into three divisions, the middle part of the island narrowing into a kind of isthmus, and each of the divisions thus indicated having certain structural characteristics of its own. West Java, which consists of Bantam, Krawang and the Preanger Regencies, has an area of upwards of 18,000 sq. m. In this division the highlands lie for the most part in a compact mass to the south and the lowlands form a continuous tract to the north. The main portion of the uplands consists of the Preanger Mountains, with the plateaus of Bandong, Pekalongan, Tegal, Badung and Gurut, encircled with volcanic summits. On the borders of the Preanger, Batavia and Bantam are the Halimon Mountains (the Blue Mountains of the older travellers), reaching their greatest altitudes in the volcanic summits of Gedeh and Salak. To the west lie the highlands of Bantam, which extending northward cut off the northern lowlands from the Sunda Strait. Middle Java is the smallest of the three divisions, having an area of not much more than 13,200 sq. m. It comprises Tegal, Pekalongan, Banyumas, Bagelen, Kedu, Jokjakarta, Surakarta, and thus not only takes in the whole of the isthmus but encroaches on the broad eastern portion of the island. In the isthmus mountains are not so closely massedin the south nor the plains so continuous on the north. The watershed culminating in Slamet lies almost midway between the ocean and the Java Sea, and there are somewhat extensive lowlands in the south. In that part of middle Java which physically belongs to eastern Java there is a remarkable series of lowlands stretching almost right across the island from Semarang in the north to Jokjakarta in the south. Eastern Java comprises Rembang, Madiun, Kediri, Surabaya, Pasuruan and Besuki, and has an area of about 17,500 sq. m. In this division lowlands and highlands are intermingled in endless variety except along the south coast, where the watershed-range forms a continuous breakwater from Jokjakarta to Besuki. The volcanic eminences, instead of rising in lines or groups, are isolated.
For its area Java is one of the most distinctly volcanic regions of the world. Volcanic forces made it, and volcanic forces have continued to devastate and fertilize it. According to R. D. M. Verbeek about 125 volcanic centres can be distinguished, a number which may be increased or diminished by different methods of classification. It is usual to arrange the volcanoes in the following groups: westernmost Java 11 (all extinct); Preanger 50 (5 active); Cheribon 2 (both extinct); Slamet 2 (1 active); middle Java 16 (2 active); Murio 2 (both extinct); Lavu 2 (extinct); Wilis 2 (extinct); east Java 21 (5 active). The active volcanoes of the present time are Gedeh, Tangkuban, Prahu, Gutar, Papandayan, Galung-gung, Slamet, Sendor, Merapi,4Kalut (or Klut), Bromo, Semeru, Lamongan, Raung, but the activity of many of these is trifling, consisting of slight ejections of steam and scoriae.
The plains differ in surface and fertility, according to their geological formation. Built up of alluvium and diluvium, the plains of the north coast-lands in western and middle Java are at their lowest levels, near the mouths of rivers and the sea, in many cases marshy and abounding in lakes and coral remains, but for the rest they are fertile and available for culture. The plains, too, along the south coast of middle Java—of Banyumas and Bagelen—contain many morasses as well as sandy stretches and dunes impeding the outlet of the rivers. They are, nevertheless, available for the cultivation more particularly of rice, and are thickly peopled. In eastern Java, again, the narrow coast plains are to be distinguished from the wider plains lying between the parallel chains of limestone and between the volcanoes. The narrow plains of the north coast are constituted of yellow clay and tuffs containing chalk, washed down by the rivers from the mountain chains and volcanoes. Like the western plains, they, too, are in many cases low and marshy, and fringed with sand and dunes. The plains, on the other hand, at some distance from the sea, or lying in the interior of eastern Java, such as Surakarta, Madiun, Kediri, Pasuruan, Probolinggo and Besuki, owe their formation to the volcanoes at whose bases they lie, occupying levels as high as 1640 ft. down to 328 ft. above the sea, whence they decline to the lower plains of the coast. Lastly, the plains of Lusi, Solo and Brantas, lying between the parallel chains in Japara, Rembang and Surabaya, are in part the product of rivers formerly flowing at a higher level of 30 to 60 or 70 ft., in part the product of the sea, dating from a time when the northern part of the above-named residencies was an island, such as Madura, the mountains of which are the continuation of the north parallel chain, is still.
The considerable rivers of western Java all have their outlets on the north coast, the chief among them being the Chi (Dutch Tji) Tarum and the Chi Manuk. They are navigable for native boats and rafts, and are used for the transport of coffee and salt. On the south coast the Chi Tanduwi, on the east of the Preanger, is the only stream available as a waterway, and this only for a few miles above its mouth. In middle Java, also, the rivers discharging at the north coast—the Pamali, Chomal, &c.—are serviceable for the purposes of irrigation and cultivation, but are navigable only near their mouths. The rivers of the south coast—Progo, Serayu, Bogowonto, and Upak, enriched by rills from the volcanoes—serve abundantly to irrigate the plains of Bagelen, Banyumas, &c. Their stony beds, shallows and rapids, and the condition of their mouths lessen, however, their value as waterways. More navigable are the larger rivers of eastern Java. The Solo is navigable for large praus, or native boats, as far up as Surakarta, and above that town for lighter boats, as is also its affluent the Gentung. The canal constructed in 1893 at the lower part of this river, and alterations effected at its mouth, have proved of important service both in irrigating the plain and facilitating the river’s outlet into the sea. The Brantas is also navigable in several parts. The smaller rivers of eastern Java are, however, much in the condition of those of western Java. They serve less as waterways than as reservoirs for the irrigation of the fertile plains through which they flow.
The north coast of Java presents everywhere a low strand covered with nipa or mangrove, morasses and fishponds, sandy stretches and low dunes, shifting river-mouths and coast-lines, ports and roads, demanding continual attention and regulation. The south coast is of a different make. The dunes of Banyumas, Bagelen, and Jokjakarta, ranged in three ridges, rising to 50 ft. high, and varying in breadth from 300 to over 1600 ft., liable, moreover, to transformation from tides and the east monsoon, oppose everywhere, also in Preanger and Besuki, a barrier to the discharge of the rivers and the drainage of the coast-lands. They assist the formation of lagoons and morasses. At intervals in the dune coast, running in the direction of the limestone mountains, there tower up steep inaccessible masses of land, showing neither ports nor bays, hollowed out by the sea, rising in perpendicular walls to a height of 160 ft. above sea-level. Sometimes two branches project at right angles from the chain on to the coast, forming a low bay between the capes or ends of the projecting branches, from 1000 to 1600 ft. high. Such a formation occurs frequently along the coast of Besuki, presenting a very irregular coast-line. Of course the north coast is of much greater commercial importance than the south coast.
Geology.—With the exception of a few small patches of schist, supposed to be Cretaceous, the whole island, so far as is known, is covered by deposits of Tertiary and Quaternary age. The ancient “schist formation,” which occurs in Sumatra, Borneo, &c., does not rise to the surface anywhere in Java itself, but it is visible in the island of Karimon Java off the north coast. The Cretaceous schists have yielded fossils only at Banjarnegara, where a limestone with Orbitolina is interstratified with them. They are succeeded unconformably by Eocene deposits, consisting of sandstones with coal-seams and limestones containing Nummulites, Alveolina and Orthophragmina; and these beds are as limited in extent as the Cretaceous schists themselves. Sedimentary deposits of Upper Tertiary age are widely spread, covering about 38% of the surface. They consist of breccias, marls and limestones containing numerous fossils, and are for the most part Miocene but probably include a part of the Pliocene also. They were laid down beneath the sea, but have since been folded and elevated to considerable heights. Fluviatile deposits of late Pliocene age have been found in the east of Java, and it was in these that the remarkable anthropoid ape or ape-like man,Pithecanthropus erectusof Dubois, was discovered. The Quaternary deposits lie horizontally upon the upturned edges of the Tertiary beds. They are partly marine and partly fluviatile, the marine deposits reaching to a height of some 350 ft. above the sea and thus indicating a considerable elevation of the island in recent times.
The volcanic rocks of Java are of great importance and cover about 28% of the island. The eruptions began in the middle of the Tertiary period, but did not attain their maximum until Quaternary times, and many of the volcanoes are still active. Most of the cones seem to lie along faults parallel to the axis of the island, or on short cross fractures. The lavas and ashes are almost everywhere andesites and basalts, with a little obsidian. Some of the volcanoes, however, have erupted leucite rocks. Similar rocks, together with phonolite, occur in the island of Bavian.5
Climate.—Our knowledge of the climate of Batavia, and thus of that of the lowlands of western Java, is almost perfect; but, rainfall excepted, our information as to the climate of Java as a whole is extremely defective. The dominant meteorological facts are simple and obvious: Java lies in the tropics, under an almost vertical sun, and thus has a day of almost uniform length throughout the year.6It is also within the perpetual influence of the great atmospheric movements passing between Asia and Australia; and is affected by the neighbourhood of vast expanses of sea and land (Borneo and Sumatra). There are no such maxima of temperature as are recorded from the continents. The highest known at Batavia was 96° F. in 1877 and the lowest 66° in the same year. The mean annual temperature is 79°. The warmest months are May and October, registering 79.5° and 79.46° respectively; the coldest January and February with 77.63° and 77.7° respectively. The daily range is much greater; at one o’clock the thermometer has a mean height of 84°; after two o’clock it declines to about 73° at six o’clock; the greatest daily amplitude is in August and the least in January and February. Eastern Java and the inland plains of middle Java are said to be hotter, but scientific data are few. A very slight degree of elevation above the seaboard plains produces a remarkable difference in the climate, not so much in its mere temperature as in its influence on health. The dwellers in the coast towns are surprised at the invigorating effects of a change to health resorts from 300 to 1200 ft. above sea-level; and at greater elevations it may be uncomfortably cold at night, with chilly mists and occasional frosts. The year is divided into two seasons by the prevailing winds: the rainy season, that of the west monsoon, lasting from November to March, and the dry season, that of the east monsoon, during the rest of the year; the transition from one monsoon to another—the “canting” of the monsoons—being marked byirregularities. On the whole, the east monsoon blows steadily for a longer period than the west. The velocity of the wind is much less than in Europe—not more in the annual mean at Batavia than 3 ft. per second, against 12 to 18 ft. in Europe. The highest velocity ever observed at Batavia was 25 ft. Wind-storms are rare and hardly ever cyclonic. There are as a matter of course a large number of purely local winds, some of them of a very peculiar kind, but few of these have been scientifically dealt with. Thunder-storms are extremely frequent; but the loss of life from lightning is probably diminished by the fact that the palm-trees are excellent conductors. At night the air is almost invariably still. The average rainfall at Batavia is 72.28 in. per annum, of which 51.49 in. are contributed by the west monsoon. The amount varies considerably from year to year: in 1889, 1891 and 1897 there were about 47.24 in.; in 1868 and 1877 nearly 51.17, and in 1872 and 1882 no less than 94.8. There are no long tracts of unbroken rainfall and no long periods of continuous drought. The rainfall is heaviest in January, but it rains only for about one-seventh of the time. Next in order come February, March and December. August, the driest month, has from three to five days of rain, though the amount is usually less than an inch and not more than one and a half inches. The popular description of the rain falling not in drops but streams was proved erroneous by J. Wiesner’s careful observations (seeKais. Akad. d. Wiss. Math. Naturw. Cl.Bd. xiv., Vienna, 1895), which have been confirmed by A. Woeikof (“Regensintensität und Regendauer in Batavia” inZ. für Met., 1907). The greatest rainfall recorded in an hour (4.5 in.) is enormously exceeded by records even in Europe. From observations taken for the meteorological authorities at a very considerable number of stations, J. H. Boeseken constructed a map in 1900 (Tijdschr. v. h. Kon. Ned. Aardr. Gen., 1900; reproduced in Veth,Java, iii. 1903). Among the outstanding facts are the following. The south coasts of both eastern and middle Java have a much heavier rainfall than the north. Majalenka has an annual fall of 175 in. In western Java the maximal district consists of a great ring of mountains from Salak and Gedeh in the west to Galung-gung in the east, while the enclosed plateau-region of Chanjur Bandung and Garut are not much different from the seaboard. The whole of middle Java, with the exception of the north coast, has a heavy rainfall. At Chilachap the annual rainfall is 151.43 in., 87.8 in. of which is brought by the south-east monsoon. The great belt which includes the Slamet and the Dieng, and the country on the south coast between Chilachap and Parigi, are maximal. In comparison the whole of eastern Java, with the exception of the mountains from Wilis eastward to Ijen, has a low record which reaches its lowest along the north coast.7
Fauna.—In respect of its fauna Java differs from Borneo, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula far more than these differ among themselves; and, at the same time, it shows a close resemblance to the Malay Peninsula, on the one hand, and to the Himalayas on the other. Of the 176 mammals of the whole Indo-Malayan region the greater number occur in Java. Of these 41 are found on the continent of Asia, 8 are common to Java and Borneo, and 6 are common to Java and Sumatra (see M. Weber,Das Indo-Malay Archipelago und die Geschichte seiner Thierwelt, Jena, 1902). No genus and only a few species are confined to the island. Of the land-birds only a small proportion are peculiar. The elephant, the tapir, the bear, and various other genera found in the rest of the region are altogether absent. The Javanese rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sundaicus;sarakin Javanese,badakin Sundanese), the largest of the mammals on the island, differs from that of Sumatra in having one horn instead of two. It ranges over the highest mountains, and its regular paths, worn into deep channels, may be traced up the steepest slopes and round the rims of even active volcanoes. Two species of wild swine,Sus vittatusandSus verrucosus, are exceedingly abundant, the former in the hot, the latter in the temperate, region; and their depredations are the cause of much loss to the natives, who, however, being Mahommedans, to whom pork is abhorrent, do not hunt them for the sake of their flesh. Not much less than the rhinoceros is the banteng (Bibos bantengorsundaicus) found in all the uninhabited districts between 2000 and 7000 ft. of elevation. The kidang or muntjak (Cervulus muntjac) and the rusa or russa (Rusa hippelaphusorRussa russa) are the representatives of the deer kind. The former is a delicate little creature occurring singly or in pairs both in the mountains and in the coast districts; the latter lives in herds of fifty to a hundred in the grassy opens, giving excellent sport to the native hunters. Another species (Russa kuhlii) exists in Bavian. The kantjil (Tragulus javanicus) is a small creature allied to the musk-deer but forming a genus by itself. It lives in the high woods, for the most part singly, seldom in pairs. It is one of the most peculiar of the Javanese mammals. The royal tiger, the same species as that of India, is still common enough to make a tiger-hunt a characteristic Javanese scene. The leopard (Felis pardus) is frequent in the warm regions and often ascends to considerable altitudes. Black specimens occasionally occur, but the spots are visible on inspection; and the fact that in the Amsterdam zoological gardens a black leopard had one of its cubs black and the other normally spotted shows that this is only a case of melanism. In the tree-tops the birds find a dangerous enemy in the matjan rembak, or wild cat (Felis minuta), about the size of a common cat. The dog tribe is represented by the fox-like adjag (CuonorCanis sutilans) which hunts in ferocious packs; and by a wild dog,Canis tenggeranus, if this is not now exterminated. The Cheiroptera hold a prominent place in the fauna, the principal genera beingPteropus,Cynonycteris,CynopterusandMacroglossus. Remarkable especially for size is the kalong, or flying fox,Pteropus edulis, a fruit-eating bat, which may be seen hanging during the day in black clusters asleep on the trees, and in the evening hastening in long lines to the favourite feeding grounds in the forest. The damage these do to the young coco-nut trees, the maize and the sugar-palms leads the natives to snare and shoot them; and their flesh is a favourite food with Europeans, who prefer to shoot them by night as, if shot by day, they often cling after death to the branches. Smaller kinds of bats are most abundant, perhaps the commonest beingScotophilus Temminckii. In certain places they congregate in myriads, like sea-fowl on the cliffs, and their excrement produces extensive guano deposits utilized by the people of Surakarta and Madiun. The creature known to the Europeans as the flying-cat and to the natives as the kubin is theGaleopithecus volansorvariagatus—a sort of transition from the bats to the lemuroids. Of these last Java has several species held in awe by the natives for their supposed power of fascination. The apes are represented by the wou-wou (Hylobates leuciscus), the lutung, and kowi (Semnopithecus maurusandpyrrhus), the surili (Semnopithecus mitratus), and the munyuk (Cercocebus, orMacacus, cynamolgos), the most generally distributed of all. From sunrise to sunset the wou-wou makes its presence known, especially in the second zone where it congregates in the trees, by its strange cry, at times harsh and cacophonous, at times weird and pathetic. The lutung or black ape also prefers the temperate region, though it is met with as high as 7000 ft. above the sea and as low as 2000. TheCercocebusor grey ape keeps for the most part to the warm coast lands. Rats (including the brown Norway rat, often calledMus javanicus, as if it were a native; a great plague); mice in great variety; porcupines (Acanthion javanicum); squirrels (five species) and flying squirrels (four species) represent the rodents. A hare,Lepus nigricollis, originally from Ceylon, has a very limited habitat; the Insectivora comprise a shrew-mouse (Rachyura indica), two species of tupaya andHylomys suilluspeculiar to Java and Sumatra. The nearest relation to the bears isArctictis binturong.Mydaus melicepsandHelictis orientalisrepresent the badgers. In the upper part of the mountains occursMustela Henrici, and an otter (Aonyx leptonyx) in the streams of the hot zone. The coffee rat (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus), a civet cat (Viverricida indica), the Javanese ichneumon (Herpestes javanicus), andPriodon gracilismay also be mentioned.
In 1820, 176 species of birds were known in Java; by 1900 Vorderman and O. Finsch knew 410. Many of these are, of course, rare and occupy a limited habitat far from the haunts of man. Others exist in myriads and are characteristic features in the landscape. Water-fowl of many kinds, ducks, geese, storks, pelicans, &c., give life to sea-shore and lake, river and marsh. Snipe-shooting is afavouritesport. Common night-birds are the owl (Strix flammea) and the goat-sucker (Caprimulgus affinis). Three species of hornbill, the year-bird of the older travellers (Buceros plicatus,lunatusandalbirostris) live in the tall trees of the forest zone. The Javanese peacock is a distinct species (Pavo muticusorspiciferus), and even exceeds the well-known Indian species in the splendour of its plumage.Gallus Bankivais famous as the reputed parent of all barn-door fowls;Gallus furcatusis an exquisitely beautiful bird and can be trained for cock-fighting. Of parrots two species only are known:Palaeornis Alexandriorjavanicusand the pretty little grass-greenCuryllis pusilla, peculiar to Java. As talkers and mimics they are beaten by theGracula javanensis, a favourite cage-bird with the natives. A cuckoo,Chrysococcyx basalis, may be heard in the second zone. The grass-fields are the foraging-grounds of swarms of weaver-birds (Plocula javanensisandPloccus baya). They lay nearly as heavy a toll on the rice-fields as the gelatiks (Munia oryzivora), which are everywhere the rice-growers’ principal foe. Hawks and falcons make both an easy prey. TheNictuarinasor honey-birds (eight species) take the place of the humming-bird, which they rival in beauty and diminutiveness, ranging from the lowlands to an altitude of 4000 ft. In the upper regions the birds, like the plants, are more like those of Europe, and some of them—notably the kanchilan (Hyloterpe Philomela)—are remarkable for their song. The edible-nest swallow (Collocalia fuciphaga) builds in caves in many parts of the island.8
As far back as 1859 P. Bleeker credited Java with eleven hundred species of fish; and naturalists are perpetually adding to the number.9In splendour and grotesqueness of colouring many kinds, as is well known, look rather like birds than fish. In the neighbourhood of Batavia about three hundred and eighty species are used as food by the natives and the Chinese, who have added to the number by the introduction of the goldfish, which reaches a great size. The sea fish most prized by Europeans isLates calcarifer(a perch). Of more than one hundred species of snakes about twenty-four species(including the cobra di capella) are poisonous and these are responsible for the deaths of between one hundred and two hundred persons per annum. Adders and lizards are abundant. Geckos are familiar visitants in the houses of the natives. There are two species of crocodiles.
As in other tropical-rain forest lands the variety and abundance of insects are amazing. At sundown the air becomes resonant for hours with their myriad voices. TheColeopteraand theLepidopteraform the glory of all great collections for their size and magnificence. Of butterflies proper five hundred species are known. Of the beetles one of the largest and handsomest isChalcosoma atlas. Among the spiders (a numerously represented order) the most notable is a bird-killing species,Selene scomia javanensis. In many parts the island is plagued with ants, termites and mosquitoes. Crops of all kinds are subject to disastrous attacks of creeping and winged foes—many still unidentified (see especially Snellen van Hollenhoven,Essai d’une faune entomologique de l’Archipel Indo-néerlandais). Of still lower forms of life the profusion is no less perplexing. Among the worms thePerichaeta musicareaches a length of about twenty inches and produces musical sounds. The shell of theTridacna gigasis the largest anywhere known.
Flora.—For the botanist Java is a natural paradise, affording him the means of studying the effects of moisture and heat, of air-currents and altitudes, without the interference of superincumbent arctic conditions. The botanic gardens of Buitenzorg have long been famous for their wealth of material, the ability with which their treasures have been accumulated and displayed, their value in connexion with the economic development of the island and the extensive scientific literature published by their directors.10There is a special establishment at Chibodas open to students of all nations for the investigation on the spot of the conditions of the primeval forest. Hardly any similar area in the world has a flora of richer variety than Java. It is estimated that the total number of the species of plants is about 5000; but this is probably under the mark (De Candolle knew of 2605 phanerogamous species), and new genera and species of an unexpected character are from time to time discovered. The lower parts of the island are always in the height of summer. The villages and even the smaller towns are in great measure concealed by the abundant and abiding verdure; and their position in the landscape is to be recognized mainly by their groves, orchards and cultivated fields. The amount and distribution of heat and moisture at the various seasons of the year form the dominant factors in determining the character of the vegetation. Thus trees which are evergreen in west Java are deciduous in the east of the island, some dropping their leaves (e.g.Tetrameles nudiflora) at the very time they are in bloom or ripening their fruit. This and other contrasts are graphically described from personal observation by A. F. W. Schimper in hisPflanzen-Geographie auf physiologischer Grundlage(Jena, 1898). The abundance of epiphytes, orchids, pitcher-plants, mosses and fungi is a striking result of the prevalent humidity; and many trees and plants indeed, which in drier climates root in the soil, derive sufficient moisture from their stronger neighbours. Of orchids J. J. Smith records 562 species (100 genera), but the flowers of all except about a score are inconspicuous. This last fact is the more remarkable because, taken generally, the Javanese vegetation differs from that of many other tropical countries by being abundantly and often gorgeously floriferous. Many of the loftiest trees crown themselves with blossoms and require no assistance from the climbing plants that seek, as it were, to rival them in their display of colour. Shrubs, too, and herbaceous plants often give brilliant effects in the savannahs, the deserted clearings, the edges of the forest and the sides of the highways. Thelantana, a verbenaceous alien introduced, it is said, from Jamaica by Lady Raffles, has made itself aggressively conspicuous in many parts of the island, more especially in the Preanger and middle Java, where it occupies areas of hundreds of acres.
The effect of mere altitude in the distribution of the flora was long ago emphasized by Friedrich Junghuhn, the Humboldt of Java, who divided the island into four vertical botanical zones—a division which has generally been accepted by his successors, though, like all such divisions, it is subject to many modifications and exceptions. The forest, or hot zone, extends to a height of 2000 ft. above the sea; the second, that of moderate heat, has its upper limit at about 4500; the third, or cool, zone reaches 7500; and the fourth, or coldest, comprises all that lies beyond. The lowest zone has, of course, the most extensive area; the second is only a fiftieth and the third a five-thousandth of the first; and the fourth is an insignificant remainder. The lowest is the region of the true tropical forest, of rice-fields and sugar-plantations, of coco-nut palms, cotton, sesamum, cinnamon and tobacco (though this last has a wide altitudinal range). Many parts of the coast (especially on the north) are fringed with mangrove (Rhizophora mucronata), &c., and species ofBruguiera; the downs have their characteristic flora—convolvulus andSpinifex squarrosuscatching the eye for very different reasons. Farther inland along the seaboard appear the nipa dwarf palm (Nipa fruticans), theAlsbonia scholaris(the wood of which is lighter than cork), Cycadacea, tree-ferns, screw pines (Pandanus), &c. In west Java the gebang palm (Corypha gebanga) grows in clumps and belts not far from but never quite close to the coast; and in east Java a similar position is occupied by the lontar (Borassus flabelliformis), valuable for its timber, its sago and its sugar, and in former times for its leaves, which were used as a writing-material. The fresh-water lakes and ponds of this region are richly covered with Utricularia and various kinds of lotus (Nymphaea lotus,N. stellata,Nelumbium speciosum, &c.) interspersed withPista stratiotesand other floating plants. Vast prairies are covered with the silvery alang-alang grass broken by bamboo thickets, clusters of trees and shrubs (Butea frondosa,Emblica officinalis, &c.) and islands of the taller erigedeh or glagah (Saccharum spontaneum). Alang-alang (Imperata arundinacea, Cyr. var. Bentham) grows from 1 to 4 ft. in height. It springs up wherever the ground is cleared of trees and is a perfect plague to the cultivator. It cannot hold its own, however, with the ananas, the kratok (Phaseolus lunatus) or the lantana; and, in the natural progress of events, the forest resumes its sway except where the natives encourage the young growth of the grass by annually setting the prairies on fire. The true forest, which occupies a great part of this region, changes its character as we proceed from west to east. In west Java it is a dense rain-forest in which the struggle of existence is maintained at high pressure by a host of lofty trees and parasitic plants in bewildering profusion. The preponderance of certain types is remarkable. Thus of the Moraceae there are in Java (and mostly here) seven genera with ninety-five species, eighty-three of which areFicus(see S. H. Koorders and T. Valeton, “Boomsoorten op Java” inBijdr. Mede. Dep. Landbower(1906). These include the so-called waringin, several kinds of figs planted as shade-trees in the parks of the nobles and officials. The Magnoliaceae and Anonaceae are both numerously represented. In middle Java the variety of trees is less, a large area being occupied by teak. In eastern Java the character of the forest is mainly determined by the abundance of the Casuarina or Chimoro (C. montanaandC. Junghuhniana). Another species,C. equisetifolia, is planted in west Java as an ornamental tree. These trees are not crowded together and encumbered with the heavy parasitic growths of the rain-forest; but their tall stems are often covered with multitudes of small vermilion fungi. Wherever the local climate has sufficient humidity, the true rain-forest claims its own. The second of Junghuhn’s zones is the region of, more especially, tea, cinchona and coffee plantations, of maize and the sugar palm (areng). In the forest the trees are richly clad with ferns and enormous fungi; there is a profusion of underwood (Pavetta macrophylla Javanicaandsalicifolia; several species ofLasianthus,Boehmarias,Strobilanthus, &c.), of woody lianas and ratans, of tree ferns (especially Alsophila). Between the bushes the ground is covered with ferns, lycopods, tradescantias, Bignoniaceae, species ofAeschynanthus. Of the lianas the largest isPlectocomia elongata; one specimen of which was found to have a length of nearly 790 ft. One of the fungi,Telephora princeps, is more than a yard in diameter. The trees are of different species from those of the hot zone even when belonging to the same genus; and new types appear mostly in limited areas. The third zone, which consists mainly of the upper slopes of volcanic mountains, but also comprises several plateaus (the Dieng, parts of the Tengger, the Ijen) is a region of clouds and mists. There are a considerable number of lakes and swamps in several parts of the region, and these have a luxuriant environment of grasses, Cyperaceae, Characeae and similar forms. The taller trees of the region—oaks, chestnuts, various Lauraceae, and four or five species ofPodocarpus—with some striking exceptions,Astronia spectabilis, &c., are less floriferous than those of the lower zones; but the shrubs (Rhododendron javanicum,Ardisia javanica, &c.), herbs and parasites more than make up for this defect. There is little cultivation, except in the Tengger, where the natives grow maize, rye and tobacco, and various European vegetables (cabbage, potatoes, &c.), with which they supply the lowland markets. In western Java one of the most striking features of the upper parts of this temperate region is what Schimper calls the “absolute dominion of mosses,” associated with the “elfin forest,” as he quaintly calls it, a perfect tangle of “low, thick, oblique or even horizontal stems,” almost choked to leaflessness by their grey and ghostly burden. Much of the lower vegetation begins to have a European aspect; violets, primulas, thalictrums, ranunculus, vacciniums, equisetums, rhododendrons (Rhod. retusum). ThePrimula imperialis, found only on the Pangerango, is a handsome species, prized by specialists. In the fourth or alpine zone occur such distinctly European forms asArtemisia vulgaris,Plantago major,Solanum nigrum,Stellaria media; and altogether the alpine flora contains representatives of no fewer than thirty-three families. A characteristic shrub isAnaphalis javanica, popularly called the Javanese edelweiss, which “often entirely excludes all other woody plants.”11The tallest and noblestof all the trees in the island is the rasamala or liquid-ambar (Altingia excelsa), which, rising with a straight clean trunk, sometimes 6 ft. in diameter at the base, to a height of 100 to 130 ft., spreads out into a magnificent crown of branches and foliage. When by chance a climbing plant has joined partnership with it, the combination of blossoms at the top is one of the finest colour effects of the forest. The rasamala, however, occurs only in the Preanger and in the neighbouring parts of Bantam and Buitenzorg. Of the other trees that may be classified as timber—from 300 to 400 species—many attain noble proportions. It is sufficient to mentionCalophyllum inophyllum, which forms fine woods in the south of Bantam,Mimusops acuminata,Irna glabra,Dalbergia latifolia(sun wood, English black-wood) in middle and east Java; the rare but splendidPithecolobium Junghuhnianum;Schima Noronhae,Bischofia javanica,Pterospermum javanicum(greatly prized for ship-building), and the upas-tree. From the economic point of view all these hundreds of trees are of less importance thanTectona grandis, the jati or teak, which, almost to the exclusion of all others, occupies about a third of the government forest-lands. It grows best in middle and eastern Java, preferring the comparatively dry and hot climate of the plains and lower hills to a height of about 2000 ft. above the sea, and thriving best in more or less calciferous soils. In June it sheds its leaves and begins to bud again in October. Full-grown trees reach a height of 100 to 150 ft. In 1895 teak (with a very limited quantity of other timber) was felled to the value of about £101,800, and in 1904 the corresponding figure was about £119,935.
That an island which has for so long maintained a dense and growing population in its more cultivable regions should have such extensive tracts of primeval or quasi-primeval forest as have been above indicated would be matter of surprise to one who did not consider the simplicity of the life of the Javanese. They require but little fuel; and both their dwellings and their furniture are mostly constructed of bamboo supplemented with a palm or two. They destroy the forest mainly to get room for their rice-fields and pasture for their cattle. In doing this, however, they are often extremely reckless and wasteful; and if it had not been for the unusual humidity of the climate their annual fires would have resulted in widespread conflagrations. As it is, many mountains are now bare which within historic times were forested to the top; but the Dutch government has proved fully alive to the danger of denudation. The state has control of all the woods and forests of the island with the exception of those of the Preanger, the “particular lands,” and Madura; and it has long been engaged in replanting with native trees and experimenting with aliens from other parts of the world—Eucalyptus globulus, the juar,Cassia floridafrom Sumatra, the surian (Cedrela febrifuga), &c. The greatest success has been with cinchona.
Left to itself Java would soon clothe itself again with even a richer natural vegetation than it had when it was first occupied by man. The open space left by the demolition of the fortifications on Nusa Kambangan was in twenty-eight years densely covered by thousands of shrubs and trees of about twenty varieties, many of the latter 80 ft. high. Resident Snijthoff succeeded about the close of the 19th century in re-afforesting a large part of Mount Muriå by the simple expedient of protecting the territory he had to deal with from all encroachments by natives.12
Population.—The population of Java (including Madura, &c.) was 30,098,008 in 1905. In 1900 it was 28,746,688; in 1890, 23,912,564; and in 1880, 19,794,505. The natives consist of the Javanese proper, the Sundanese and the Madurese. All three belong to the Malay stock. Between Javanese and Sundanese the distinction is mainly due to the influence of the Hindus on the former and the absence of this on the latter. Between Javanese and Madurese the distinction is rather to be ascribed to difference of natural environment. The Sundanese have best retained the Malay type, both in physique and fashion of life. They occupy the west of the island. The Madurese area, besides the island of Madura and neighbouring isles, includes the eastern part of Java itself. The residencies of Tegal, Pekalongan, Banyumas, Bagelen, Kedu, Semarang, Japara, Surakarta, Jokjakarta, Rembang, Madiun, Kediri and Surabaya have an almost purely Javanese population. The Javanese are the most numerous and civilized of the three peoples.
The colour of the skin in all three cases presents various shades of yellowish-brown; and it is observed that, owing perhaps to the Hindu strain, the Javanese are generally darker than the Sundanese. The eyes are always brown or black, the hair of the head black, long, lank and coarse. Neither breast nor limbs are provided with hair, and there is hardly even the suggestion of a beard. In stature the Sundanese is less than the Javanese proper, being little over 5 ft. in average height, whereas the Javanese is nearly 5½ ft.; at the same time the Sundanese is more stoutly built. The Madurese is as tall as the Javanese, and as stout as the Sundanese. The eye is usually set straight in the head in the Javanese and Madurese; among the Sundanese it is often oblique. The nose is generally flat and small, with wide nostrils, although among the Javanese it not infrequently becomes aquiline. The lips are thick, yet well formed; the teeth are naturally white, but often filed and stained. The cheek-bones are well developed, more particularly with the Madurese. In expressiveness of countenance the Javanese and Madurese are far in advance of the Sundanese. The women are not so well made as the men, and among the lower classes especially soon grow absolutely ugly. In the eyes of the Javanese a golden yellow complexion is the perfection of female beauty. To judge by their early history, the Javanese must have been a warlike and vigorous people, but now they are peaceable, docile, sober, simple and industrious.
One million only out of the twenty-six millions of natives are concentrated in towns, a fact readily explained by their sources of livelihood. The great bulk of the population is distributed over the country in villages usually called by Europeans dessas, from the Low Javanese worddéså(High Javanesedusun). Every dessa, however small (and those containing from 100 to 1000 families are exceptionally large), forms an independent community; and no sooner does it attain to any considerable size than it sends off a score of families or so to form a new dessa. Each lies in the midst of its own area of cultivation. The general enceinte is formed by an impervious hedge of bamboos 40 to 70 ft. high. Within this lie the houses, each with its own enclosure, which, even when the fields are the communal property, belongs to the individual householder. The capital of a district is only a larger dessa, and that of a regency has the same general type, but includes several kampongs or villages. The bamboo houses in the strictly Javanese districts are always built on the ground; in the Sunda lands they are raised on piles. Some of the well-to-do, however, have stone houses. The principal article of food is rice; a considerable quantity of fish is eaten, but little meat. Family life is usually well ordered. The upper class practise polygamy, but among the common people a man has generally only one wife. The Javanese are nominally Mahommedans, as in former times they were Buddhists and Brahmins; but in reality, not only such exceptional groups as the Kalangs of Surakarta and Jokjakarta and the Baduwis or nomad tribes of Bantam, but the great mass of the people must be considered as believers rather in the primitive animism of their ancestors, for their belief in Islam is overlaid with superstition. As we ascend in the social scale, however, we find the name of Mahommedan more and more applicable; and consequently in spite of the paganism of the populace the influence of the Mahommedan “priests” (this is their official title in Dutch) is widespread and real. Great prestige attaches to the pilgrimage to Mecca, which was made by 5068 persons from Java in 1900. In every considerable town there is a mosque. Christian missionary work is not very widely spread.