Read Ebook: Across the Equator: A Holiday Trip in Java by Reid Thomas H

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and cleanliness upon the Asiatic residents. The objectionable hanging Chinese signboards are noticeably absent in Batavia, as in all other towns throughout Java, and something has been done to make less clamant the odoriferous articles of Chinese commerce. The Dutch have proved that the Chinese are amenable to European notions if only firmness is shown by those in authority.

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

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

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

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

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

The British in Java

It is a constant matter of regret to British travellers who have visited Java that the island, once in our possession, should have been restored to Dutch rule.

It is not our purpose, however, to discuss the reasons for that restoration, contenting ourselves with the reflection that the capture of Java was merely part of the plan for breaking the power of Napoleon and destroying his dream of dominating the East. The alliance of European Powers having succeeded in encompassing the great Frenchman's downfall, there were doubtless good reasons at the time for reinstating the Dutch in an island where they had been established for two hundred years.

A perusal of the history of the British Expedition against Java brings into strong relief the annihilation of space and the improvements in marine travel during the past century.

It was on April 18, 1811, that the troopships carrying the first Division, commanded by Colonel Robert Rollo Gillespie, sailed from Madras Roads. On May 18, they anchored in Penang Harbour, and on June 1, at Malacca. Here they awaited the remainder of the flotilla, and were joined by Lord Minto, then Viceroy of India; Lieutenant-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty, Commander-in-Chief; and Commodore Broughton. While here, the British learned that Marshal Daendels, the Dutch Governor-General, had been recalled, and that General Janssens, with a large body of troops from France, had landed and taken over the command in Java.

Marshal Daendels had been the Governor-General when the Colony was taken over by the Crown of Holland from the Dutch East India Company. He has left the mark of his influence upon the Colony to this day, and many of the public works that remain as evidence of the pioneer days were due to his force of character and initiative. Some of his methods may not commend themselves to us in these more humane and enlightened days, any more than they were approved by his great English successor, Sir Stamford Raffles, such, for instance, as his construction of the post-road from Anjer Head to Banjoewangi, a distance of over 700 miles, at the cost of from twelve to twenty thousand lives; but it is not always easy to estimate at a distance of a hundred years the peculiar difficulties and conditions under which European Governors administered an oriental Colony. If, at times, he exceeded his instructions, as British Governors also had to do before they came under the thralldom of a Colonial Department at the end of a telegraph cable, we can forgive much in a man who accomplished so much.

Sir Stamford Raffles is careful to explain in the preface of his "History of Java" that as "in the many severe strictures passed upon the Dutch Administration in Java, some of the observations may, for want of a careful restriction in the words employed, appear to extend to the Dutch nation and character generally, I think it proper explicitly to declare that such observations are intended exclusively to apply to the Colonial Government and its officers. The orders of the Dutch Government in Holland to the authorities at Batavia, as far as my information extends, breathe a spirit of liberality and benevolence; and I have reason to believe that the tyranny and rapacity of its Colonial officers created no less indignation in Holland than in other countries of Europe."

On June 11, the British armada set out on the final stage of its journey. We can imagine the imposing show it made as it lay in the roadstead of Malacca, now shorn of its ancient importance and long since superseded as the foremost shipping port in the Far East.

The squadron consisted of four line of battle ships, fourteen frigates, seven sloops, eight Honourable East India Company's cruisers, fifty-seven transports and several gunboats--altogether over 100 sail. Composed equally of European and Indian troops, there were upwards of 10,000 men under Sir Samuel Auchmuty's command. The European troops included the 14th, 59th, 69th, 78th, and 89th Regiments of Infantry, Royal Artillery, and Royal Marines, and a small detachment of Royal Engineers.

A course was set for a rendezvous off the coast of Borneo, and on August 4, 1811, a landing was effected at Chillingching, a village about ten miles east of Batavia. To the astonishment of the British Commander, his landing was not opposed, the defending force being concentrated in the neighbourhood of Weltervreden and Meister Cornelius, to-day the thriving residential suburbs of Batavia.

General Janssens rejected Lord Minto's summons to surrender.

On August 10, Batavia was in the hands of the British troops, and on that day, after two hours of hard fighting, Weltervreden was captured, the 78th Highlanders having a heavy casualty list amongst their officers.

The French troops bravely contended every foot of ground, and battles, with heavy losses on both sides, were fought on August 22, August 24, and August 26. Colonel Gillespie, who led the advance in each of these engagements, performed prodigies of bravery in the latter fight, for we read that "Colonel Gillespie took one General in the batteries, one in the charge, and a Colonel, besides having a personal affair in which another Colonel fell by his arm."

Altogether, the British captured three General officers, 34 field officers, 70 captains and 150 subaltern officers in these fights.

The rout of the enemy was complete. General Janssens made his escape to Buitenzorg, thirty miles distant, with a few cavalrymen and the remnants of his army of 13,000 men. He did not remain here long, but fled eastwards.

A British force was shipped to Cheribon, where a large number of French officers were captured; and the port of Samarang was next attacked, with the object of forcing General Janssens back upon Solo, while the eastern end of the island was occupied by another British force. On September 10, an action was fought outside Samarang, and Janssens, defeated, retreated to Fort Salatiga; but eventually, being deserted by his troops, he opened up negotiations for capitulation.

This must have been a bitter experience for General Janssens, for it was not only the crowning misery of his defeat but marked the end of his military career, assuming that his Imperial master retained his power in Europe.

"Souvenez vous, Monsieur," Napoleon is reported to have said to him upon taking up his appointment, "Qu'un G?n?ral Francais ne se laissa pas prendre une seconde fois!"

The island having been wrested from the French, the British authorities set about the reform of the civil administration. This was not to be accomplished, however, without a test of strength between the natives and their new masters. An act of treachery soon called the troops into the field again.

During the Governorship of Marshal Daendels, the Sultan of Djocjakarta had been the most turbulent and intriguing of the native princes, and his conduct immediately after the British occupation gave occasion for serious uneasiness. Mr. Stamford Raffles, who had been appointed by Lord Minto Lieutenant-Governor of Java in December, 1811, went in person to see the Sultan. A treaty was entered into, under which the Sultan confirmed to the Honourable East India Company all the privileges, advantages and prerogatives which had been possessed by the Dutch and French authorities. To the Company also were transferred the sole regulation of the duties and the collection of tribute within the dominions of the Sultan, as well as the general administration of justice in cases where British interests were concerned.

This expedition of Mr. Raffles seems to have had exciting experiences, for we read:

"The small British escort which accompanied Mr. Raffles, consisting only of a part of the 14th Regiment, a troop of the 22nd Light Dragoons and the ordinary garrison of Bengal Sepoys in the Fort and at the Residency, were not in a condition to enforce terms anyway obnoxious to the personal feelings of the Sultan. The whole retinue, indeed, of the Governor were in imminent danger of being murdered. Krises were actually unsheathed by several of the Sultan's own suite in the Audience Hall where Mr. Raffles received that Prince, who was accompanied by several thousands of armed followers expressing in their behaviour such an infuriated spirit of insolence as openly to indicate that they only waited for the signal to perpetrate the work of destruction, in which case not a man of our brave soldiers, from the manner in which they were surrounded, could have escaped."

For a time, however, an open breach of the peace was averted by the tact of Mr. Raffles and the outward appearance of bravery of the officers and men accompanying him.

Several expeditions were made into the interior to put down petty brigands, in much the same way as the Dutch are engaged in Flores and Celebes to-day, and a more imposing display of military force had to be made in Sumatra.

In the following year, the Sultan of Mataram in Djocjakarta again became troublesome, and it was found necessary to send a strong expedition against him. On June 20, the famous Water Castle at Djocjakarta was captured by assault, and the Sultan taken prisoner. He was exiled to Prince of Wales Island , and the Hereditary Prince was placed on the throne. The ruling native at Solo, who rejoiced in the imposing title of Emperor, made terms with the Lieutenant-Governor, and peace was established throughout the island, and was not disturbed seriously during the remainder of the British occupation.

Mr. Raffles set himself to establish a more humane administration than had hitherto prevailed, and anyone who wishes to realise the thoroughness with which this able administrator set himself to the task should read his "History of Java." It is replete with shrewd observations of the native customs, industries, antecedents, and languages, and shows how little change has been effected in the character and domestic customs of the people during the last hundred years.

The essence of his policy of administration is contained in the following sentence written by him:--"Let the higher departments be scrupulously superintended and watched by Europeans of character; let the administration of justice be pure, prompt and steady;" and it is satisfactory to one's sense of patriotism to know that that is the spirit which pervades British administration in her Crown Colonies to-day.

Botanist's Paradise at Buitenzorg.

To the Singaporean visitor to Java there is a melancholy interest in the little monument erected in the Garden at Buitenzorg by Sir Stamford Raffles to the memory of his wife, who died during his residence there.

In the conditions under which the island was restored to Holland, it was stipulated that the monument, in the form of a little Greek temple, should be cared for by the Dutch. The trust has been fulfilled, and those of us who take interest in the historic chances and changes of Britain's possessions in the Far East and the personal influence of the builders of the Empire, can find food for reflection in the sacrifices made by those men and women who are ever found on the Empire's frontiers. The sight of this memorial among the kanari trees in the tropical island of Java makes us think of the tablet in the little parish church on the hill at Hendon, near which this woman's husband lies buried.

The inscription runs as follows:--

"Sacred to the memory of Olivia Marianne, wife of Thomas Stamford Raffles, Lieutenant-Governor of Java and its dependencies, who died at Buitenzorg on the 26th November, 1814.

"Oh thou whom ne'er my constant heart One moment hath forgot. Tho' fate severe hath bid us part Yet still--forget me not."

The traveller who has only a fortnight or three weeks to devote to Java must awake betimes. In any event, he must needs be early to take advantage of the express trains, and in our case we had only a day to devote to Buitenzorg, where the Governor-General of the Netherland Indies has his palace.

With the exception of the short run from Tandjong Priok, it was our first acquaintance with the railway service, and when we saw the crowd awaiting to entrain at Weltervreden Station we decided to travel first-class, contrary to the advice of our friends. It was well we did so on this occasion, for the train was overcrowded; but afterwards we travelled only by the second-class, and found it as comfortable as one could wish. Indeed, so few persons travel in the first-class compartments of the trains that we are astonished that any are retained by the management. Throughout Java we found the railway service excellent in every respect. The carriages are comfortable. Ample accommodation is given for each person. It is possible to stow away a considerable amount of barang or baggage in the carriages, and full advantage is taken of this facility by the Dutch and native travellers. The lavatory accommodation is better than we have seen it in the fast expresses on the principal lines in England, and on the through service expresses there are restaurant cars where meals may be partaken of at a moderate tariff. We cannot say we always found the food palatable, for the Chinamen who are in charge appear to have a fixed idea that the "beef-stuk," which is the pi?ce de resistance, should be served up raw. In course of time, doubtless, the railway management will be able to turn its attention to the commissariat arrangements, with a view to their improvement, and, when they do so, we hope they will leave out the beefsteak altogether and provide more variety and daintier, more inviting, and more palatable viands.

A fair rate of speed is maintained, and it is possible to go from Batavia to Sourabaya, at the other end of the island, in two days. The trains, of course, as in the Federated Malay States, run only from sunrise to sundown, and the through traveller between the two principal towns must sleep the night at Maos, where a commodious pasanggrahan or rest-house provides clean, comfortable accommodation and wholesome food. Only on two occasions were we belated on the railway, and both instances were due to the one cause,--a wash-out on the line at Moentilan, the result of a severe thunder and rain storm on the previous day and night. The train was run down cautiously to the gap, passengers crossed over on a temporary bridge to the train waiting on the other side, and the baggage was transferred by a host of coolies. All this had to be done in a torrential rain-storm, but the railway officials did all in their power to make the conditions as little disagreeable as possible, and the only inconvenience was the late arrival of some of the baggage at Djocjakarta.

There was not much of interest on the morning run to Buitenzorg, but the Dutch lady who carried on an animated conversation with four gentlemen for the whole of the hour and a half introduced to us the possibilities for expression in the Dutch equivalents of "Yes" and "No."

We had been prepared by Miss Scidmore's book for the beauties of Buitenzorg, and for once expectation was more than realised.

The Dutch Governor-General van Imhoff was certainly well advised when he selected this position as the official residence of the Governor-General, and the Dutch horticulturists, than whom there are probably none better, deserve to be congratulated upon the garden city they have created out of the primeval jungle.

Part of the old palace was built by Governor-General Mossel, one hundred and fifty years ago, and the original received additions during the reigns of Daendels and Raffles. This structure was destroyed by an earthquake in 1834, and the new palace, the first glimpse of which one receives across an artificial lake, is a worthy residence for the administrator of the Dutch Indies. The surface of the lake is studded with lotus flowers and victoria regia, and the little island in the centre displays a wealth of the red or rajah palm, feathery yellow bamboo, and dark-green foliage which the lake mirrors in ever-changing pictures.

An Alma Tadema or a Marcus Stone would revel in the flowers and marbles of the palace, with its broad stairs and corridors and fine Ionian columns and cornices; and a Landseer or a MacWhirter might find endless subjects in the deer park by which it is surrounded.

The garden is a botanist's paradise. Tropical treasures from Nature's storehouse, collected by successive Directors, are arranged with care and precision characteristically Dutch. It was established in 1817 by Professor Reinwardt, and many distinguished botanists who have left their mark in the scientific world studied here and added to the collections. As may be imagined, the Dutch were not content with a mere show place for tropical specimens, and they established five mountain gardens where experiments are conducted, for practical and scientific purposes, in the cultivation of flowers, plants, vegetables and trees usually found in temperate regions. These gardens are situated in the mountains to the south--at Tjipanas, Tjibodas, Tjibeureum, Kadang Badoh, and on the top of Mount Pangerango, that is to say, at heights ranging from 3,500 ft. to 10,000 ft. The garden at Tjibodas remains, and at the Governor-General's summer villa at Tjipanas one might imagine one's-self in a private garden in Surrey or Kent.

In the buildings at Buitenzorg, facilities are afforded for foreign students, and at the time of our visit a Japanese Professor, from the Tokio University, who had studied for three and a half years in Berlin, was making an exhaustive investigation on scientific lines. Everything that can be of service to students of botany is to be found here in the museum, herbarium and library.

The general herbarium has been arranged on the Kew model. Besides a large collection of plants made by Zollinger between 1845 and 1858, it contains the valuable collections gathered by Teysmann, between 1854 and 1870, throughout the Malay Archipelago. Specimens by Kurz and Scheffer are also found, together with other recent collections of plants from Borneo and adjacent islands. Duplicates from the Herbarium at Kew Gardens and from several of the more famous European herbaria are to be found here, as well as numerous specimens from the botanical institutions of the British Colonies.

The Herbarium Horti contains the necessary materials for the compilation of the new catalogue of the Botanic Gardens, and the Herbarium Bogoriense contains plants to be found in the neighbourhood of Buitenzorg.

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