JAVA
AMONG the islands of the Indian archipelago Java is not the largest, being surpassed in this regard by Borneo, New Guinea, Sumatra, and Celebes; but in every other respect it is the most important of them all. It has passed through the most remarkable vicissitudes, has been the scene of the most eventful occurrences, and possesses the noblest memorials of bygone splendour. It supports a larger population than all the other islands of the Indian Ocean together, a population as dense indeed as that of the most populous of European countries. In natural beauty it rivals the most favoured regions of the world. Through the mildness of its climate and the industry of its people it possesses a richer store of valuable productions than almost any country of equal extent can boast: its rice-fields make it the granary of the East Indian islands, and its c,offee and sugar plantations are a perpetual source of wealth to Holland, the country which has the good fortune to claim its allegiance.
Java lies between 105° 10' and 114° 34' E. long., and between 5° 52' and 8° 46' S. lat. Its greatest length— measured from Pepper Bay in the west to Banyuwangi in the east—amounts to no less than 622 miles; its greatest breadth—from Cape Bugel in Japara to the south coast of Jokjokarta—is only 121. The area is estimated at 49,176 square miles, nearly four times that of Holland (12,731 square miles). Both physically and administratively the island of Madura, separated from the main island by a narrow strait, must be taken along with Java; and the same is more or less the case with a number of smaller islands—Pulo Panitan or Princes’ Island, lying off the most western promontory, the Thousand Islands, the Karimon-Djawa (Carimon Java) archipelago, about 50 miles to the north of Japara, Bawean (Bavean), a little further to the north of Madura, the Sumanap islands to the north-east of Madura, and Deli, Tindjil, Nusa Kambangan, Sempu, and Nusa Barung off the south coast. These all being included, the area of what is officially known as Java and Madura amounts to 51,961 square miles.
There is a striking difference between western and eastern Java in the main features of relief. The western portion, exclusive of the northern alluvial coast-land, is a compact mass of mountains culminating in volcanic peaks nowhere interrupted by plains or lowland valleys. In the eastern and larger portion the volcanoes rise in independent clusters, and the valleys between open out into wide champaigns. Even in the east the number of volcanic eminences is exceptionally large; and, if the whole island be taken into view, there is scarcely any region of the world of equal extent which can boast of so many. The following are those which are still in a state of activity :—Gedé (the most western), Tangkuban Prahu, Guntur, Pepandayan, Telaga Bodas, Galung-gung, Tjermé, the Slamat (sometimes called Gedé), Sendârâ, Sumbing, Merapi, Lawu, Wilis (?), Kelut, Ardjunâ, Kawi (1), Tenger, Smeru or Semeru, Lamongan, Rawun, and Idjen. The loftiest of them all is Semeru, with a height of 12,238 English feet.
The central ridge, in which, with the single exception of Muriâ, all the volcanic peaks are situated, contains a large number of other summits upwards of 6000 feet in height, and several—such as Wallet, Pangerangu, Merbabu, Gunong Butak, G. Weliran, G. Argowulan, the Yang (Jang) mountains, G. Rαnte—rise beyond 9000 feet. On both the north and south sides the volcanic chain is flanked by ranges composed of Tertiary rocks; these attain an elevation on the south frequently of between 2000 and 4000 feet, and occasionally in the Preanger Regencies of 5000 or 6000 feet. To the northern flanking range belongs the whole of the island of Madura, which has its highest point in Gunong Tambuko (1541 feet). The northern versant of Java differs from the southern in the great development of its alluvial border, which in one or two places widens out into considerable plains, and from this it naturally results that the streams flowing into the Sea of Java are both in length of course and volume of water more important than those that fall into the Indian Ocean. Their number in both cases is very great; but none even of the northern streams are navigable for vessels of burden, and only a , few for boats beyond the reach of the tide. They are all more or less obstructed by mud or sandbanks at their mouths. In the Sunda lands the river names are usually introduced by Tji, the Sunda word for river; the equivalent Kali is prefixed less frequently to the names in the Javanese portions of the island. The largest and in some aspects the most useful of all the rivers is the Bengawan, or river of Solo, so called from Solo, the popular name of the city of Surakarta. It is in the residency of Surakarta that it takes its rise in the plain bounded by Merapi on the W., by Lawu on the E., and by Gunong Kidul on the S., and it flows through the residencies of Madiun, Reinbang, and Surabaya. Except for the last three months of the dry season it is navigable for large boats, and during the whole year for small ones. Next in magnitude to the Solo is the Brautas, called in its lower part the Kalimas, and by Europeans the river of Surabaya Both rivers debouch into the strait of Madura, and the rapid formation of alluvial deposits in the neighbourhood of their mouths gives abundant proof of their disintegrating agency. In 1818 the largest vessels were able to anchor in the roadstead of Surabaya; by 1825 considerable caution had to be observed; and it speedily became evident that the northern approach would soon be completely closed. Between 1850 and 1854 the lower part of the Solo river was diverted into a new channel, and a permanent fairway seemed to be secured. But the condition of the strait has again been the object of solicitude, and two different schemes have been under consideration for the removal of the lower course of the river still further to the north. * All along the north coast of Java similar accretions of land are taking place; and steam dredgers have to be kept at work in all the important harbours.
The endless disturbances produced in the original condition of the strata by the continued activity of the volcanic forces render the task of the geologist peculiarly difficult. The volcanic rocks for the most part appear to rest on sedimentary rocks, and these in their turn are pretty certainly supported by granite and syenite. That the sedimentary rocks should all (the modern alluvium of course being excluded) be assigned to the Tertiary period was argued by Junghuhn from the fact that in spite of their difference in composition and character they all contain the same class of fossils; but a few striking examples of fossils and formations that must belong to the diluvial division of the Quarternary period have been pointed out by Staring and Verbeek. Throughout the rocks remains of vertebrates are exceedingly scarce; but of invertebrates there is a great profusion.
In keeping with its geological structure, Java appears in general to be in the matter of economic minerals the poorest of the great islands of the archipelago. Coal is very common, in thin strata and small “pockets,” both in Java itself and in Madura and the lesser islands, but it has hitherto been found impossible to turn it to any considerable account. A variety of clays fit for bricks, earthenware, and porcelain, a peculiar kind of clay (ampo) eaten as a dainty by the natives, good limestone and marble, petroleum, and sulphur have been more or less regularly worked. Salt is obtained from the mud wells of Kuwu and Selo (Samarang), and saltpetre at Sutji in the department of Gresik.
Climate.— Java being situated but a short distance from the equator, with the wide expanse of the Indian Ocean extending to the south, the climate is one of tropical heat and moisture.
At Batavia, the only place where a long series of meteorological observations is available, the greatest maximum temperature of the air between 1866 and 1878 was 96’08 Fahr., in November 1877, and the lowest minimum 66 02, in September of the same year. The mean temperature during the same period was 78’69. Taking the monthly means we find January 77’48, February 77'52, March 78'24, April 79’34, May 79’59, June 78’83, July 78’25, August 79’14, September 79’35, October 79’50, November 79’23, December 77’86. It is this long unbroken continuity of high temperatures which proves trying to the European constitution, for the new-comer seldom feels himself much oppressed by the heat. The maximum daily temperature occurs in January, June, and July at 2 o’clock and in the other months at 1 o’clock p.m. The highest maximum of barometric pressure recorded between 1866 and 1878 was 30 inches in July 1877, and the lowest minimum 29’64 inches in December 1870. In the ten years 1866-1875 the difference between the highest daily mean and the lowest was only 0’295 of an inch.
Java is situated in the region of the south-east trade wind, and that is the prevailing direction of the wind during one half of the year, from April to October. During the other half of the year a north-west or west wind (the physical continuation of the north-east trade wind) blows with nearly equal steadiness. The former period is known as the dry season or east monsoon, and the latter as the rainy season or the west monsoon. The distinction between the dry and the rainy seasons is most marked in the eastern portion of the island; and indeed when we come as far west as Batavia it cannot be said that there is any part of the year altogether free from rain. During the dry season the well-known phenomenon of land and sea breezes is very distinctly exhibited; during the rainy season, through obvious causes, the alternation becomes much less regular.
In a country of such bold and varied relief as Java, the rainfall naturally differs very strikingly according to locality both in annual amount and in distribution in time. In 1878, for example, the number of rainy days (Natuurk. Tijds. voor Ned. Ind., 1880) was for Batavia (at 23 feet above the sea-level) 131, at Buitenzorg (1069 feet) 220, at Wiradessa in Pekalongan (at the sea-level) 118, and so on. According to the Batavian observations for 1864-1878, the following figures show the annual rainfall:— [table]
This gives a mean annual fall of 75 ’ 89 inches. During these fifteen years the largest amount registered for any twenty-four hours was 6'9 inches; and during the thirteen years from 1866 to 1878 the largest amount registered in any single hour was 3 ’ 6 inches. More than half of the annual amount of rain on an average falls in the three months December, January, and February. The following figures are the percentages for all the months according to the 1864-1878 observations :— [table]
Between 1867 and 1877 1041 thunderstorms were observed at Batavia,—November, December, and January being the months with the greatest number, and June, July, and August those with the least. Vegetation.— The vegetation of Java is rich and diversified. Few of the plants being deciduous, the island at all times presents the same appearance as the most fertile temperate regions at the height of summer. The villages and even the smaller towns are in great measure concealed from view by the abundant and abiding verdure; and their position in the landscape is to be recognized mainly by the different appearance presented by their groves and orchards. The character of the vegetation as a matter of course varies with the character of the soil; but at once more obvious and more general are the modifications conditioned by increase of elevation. Junghuhn divided the island into four botanical zones, and his division has been commonly adopted by his successors. The first or tropical zone extends from the seaboard to a height of 2000 feet; the second or that of moderate heat has its upper limit at a height of about 4500 feet; the third or comparatively cool region reaches a height of 7500 feet; and the fourth or coldest region comprises all that lies above that elevation. It need hardly be added that the lines of demarcation are far from rigid, and, if they were to follow the actual appearance of certain definite vegetable forms, would ‘dip and rise at every advance. It is at once evident also that from the structure of the island the lowest zone has by far the most extensive area; the second indeed is only a fiftieth of the first, and the third is only a five-thousandth. The lowest zone is the region of the rice-fields and sugar plantations, of cocoa-nuts, cinnamon, and cotton. According to their character the coasts are fringed with mangroves, nipah, and other palm trees, and the kayu gabas (Alstonia scholaris) ; the ponds and lakelets are covered with Utricu- lamae and lotus flowers; vast prairies are clothed with the silvery alang-alang grass, broken by thickets of bamboos and patches of the taller eri grass and glagah. The second zone is the region more especially of the coffee and the tea plantations, of the areng or sugar palm, and of maize. In the forests there is a great profusion of woody lianas, rotangs, and cissus varieties. In the third zone, which consists mainly of the slopes of volcanic mountains, but also comprises a few plateaus, there is little cultivation except in the Tenger mountains, where the natives raise Indian corn, cabbage, and potatoes, and at Simpungan
(the highest village in Java, 6680 feet) on the Dieng plateau, where even tobacco is most successfully cultivated. The fourth zone, so far as phanerogamous plants are concerned, has a very restricted vegetation, somewhere about one hundred species being known; but there is a corresponding abundance of cryptogams: fungi are common, and mosses cover the ground and invest the trees. The whole flora of this upper region bears a strong European cast.
According to a writer in the Tijdschrift van Nijverheid en Landbοuw, 1879, not less than one-fourth to one-fifth of the area of Java is still covered with forest, in spite of the fact that in various quarters reckless destruction has been allowed to go on. The abundant moisture of the vegetation happily prevents the spread of the fires by which the natives often clear the prairies or jungles. Extensive tracts of virgin forest exist, more particularly in the south of the residencies of Bantam, the Preanger Regencies, Banyumas, Pasuruan, Kediri, Probolingo, Besuki, and Banyuwangi; and many of the principal mountains—G. Ayang, G. Tjermé, G. Slamat, G. Wilis, G. Ardjunâ, G. Raon, &c.—still preserve their natural covering of luxuriant foliage. In the first zone the forests are largely composed of Magnoliaceae and Anonaceae ; but the loftiest trees are rather the Mimusops acuminata, the Spathodea gigantea, and the Irina glabra, which reach a height of 120 feet. In the second zone the first rank must be given to the rasamala (Liguidambar Altingia), the trunks of which run straight up for 90 or 100 feet before they break into branches. The tree, however, is only found in the Preanger Regencies and the contiguous portions of Buitenzorg. Among the other trees more generally characteristic of the zone are the puspa (Schima Noronhae), yielding fine, red, heavy timber, the ki sapi (Gordonia excelsa), the gad ok (Bischofia javanica), the bayur (Pterospermum Blumeanum), and Epicharis densiflora. Throughout the greater part of both the lower regions the banyan-tree and several closely allied forms are extremely common.
Hitherto comparatively little advantage has been taken of the Javanese wealth of timber. If the native states and Madura be left out of account, all the woods and forest, with the exception of such portions as have been formally disposed of to private possessors, are considered as Government property, and are managed under a new system introduced in 1874. By this the teak forests or plantations are singled out for particular treatment. They exist in the residencies of Tagal, Samarang, Japara, Surabaya, Madiun, Kediri, and are estimated to occupy 2300 square miles. The seaports where the timber trade is chiefly carried on are Batavia, Samarang, Surabaya, and Gresik. The net profit realized by the Government from the forest department was only £58,000 in 1879.
Reforesting has been commenced in various places—more particularly on the Sumbing, Sendârâ, Merbabu, and Unarang. The Eucalyptus globulus, the juar (Cassia florida, Vahl), a rapidly growing tree indigenous to Sumatra, and the surian (Cedrela febrifuga, Bl.), are being largely employed by the Government for this purpose.
Zoology.— 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 close resemblances—not exhibited by Borneo and Sumatra—to the Siamese peninsula and also to the Himalayas. No genus and only five or six of the ninety species of Javanese mammals are confined to the island; and of the two hundred and seventy species of land birds only forty are peculiar. Thirteen genera of mammals, including the elephant, the tapir, and the Malay bear, found in the rest of the Malay region, are altogether absent; and twenty-five Malayan genera of birds—comprising jays, gapers, bee-eaters, woodpeckers, hornbills, cuckoos, pheasants, and partridges—are in like case.
The Javanese rhinoceros, the largest of the mammals in the island, differs from that of Sumatra in having only 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. Of wild swine there are two species, Sus vittatus in the hot region and Sus verrucosus in the temperate. Both are extremely abundant, and their depredations are the cause of much loss; in the residency of Japara, for instance, upwards of five thousand have been killed in two months. Not much less than the rhinoceros is the banting or Bos sundaicus, to be found in all the uninhabited districts between 2000 and 7000 feet oι elevation. The kidang or mintjac (Cervulus muntjac) and the rusa (Rusa hippclaρhus) are the chief 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, living in herds of from fifty to one hundred in the grassy “opens,” gives excellent sport to the native hunters. The kantjil CΓragulus jaυanicus) is little bigger than a hare. The royal tiger—the same species as that of India—is still frequent enough in the forests to make a tiger-hunt a characteristic Javanese scene, and to permit the native princes to exhibit at times a tiger and buffalo fight. The leopard is also common: in the warm region specimens are occasionally found in which the coat is almost uniformly black, the spots, however, being visible on inspection. In the tree tops, the birds find a treacherous enemy in the matjan rempak or wild cat (Felis minuta or Leop>ardus javanensis), about the size of a common cat, with the markings of its larger namesake. The dog-tribe is represented by the fox-like adjag (Canis rutilans'), which hunts in ferocious packs.
The Cheiroptera hold a prominent place in the fauna. 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 dark flocks to its favourite feeding grounds in the forest. The damage these do to the young cocoa-nut trees, the maize, and the sugar-palm leads the native to snare and shoot them; and their flesh is good to eat. Smaller kinds of bats are not less abundant,— perhaps the most common species being the Nycticejus TemminckH. In certain places they congregate in myriads like seafowl on the cliffs, and their excrements produce extensive guano deposits, which the natives of Surakarta and Madiun, for example, utilize as sources of saltpetre. The house of Canneman, near Besuki, is the chosen haunt of a monstrous colony which have successfully defied all efforts made to expel them. The creature known to the Europeans as a flying cat, and to the natives as the kubin, is the Galeopithecus variegatus, marking 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 (fl·ylobates leuciscus), the lutung, and kowi (Presbytes maurus ηηά pyrrhus), the surili (Presbytes mitratus), anl, most general of all, Macacus cynornolgus. The existence of bands of the wou-wous is only too distinctly proved in the second zone by the loud and cacophonous outcry from which their name is derived. The lutung or black ape prefers the temperate region, though it is met with as high as 7000 feet above the sea and as low as 2Q00. The Macacus keeps for the most part to the warm coast regions. Rats, mice, porcupines, a particular kind of hare (Lepus nigricollis— confined to a very limited habitat), squirrels, flying squirrels, are the Javanese representatives of the Rodentia·, and the Insectivora comprise a shrew mouse, three species of Gladobatcs, and Hylomys suillus, peculiar to Java and Sumatra.
Agriculture,— In the eyes of a Javanese to lack rice is to lack food. About the introduction of this divine cereal he tells strange legends, considering it the offspring of the body of Dewie Srie. The priesthood of this goddess is more influential often than that of the Prophet; at an autumn festival the worshippers may be heard uttering the Mahometan Bismillah, and following it up with the sevenfold repetition of her name. For a full harvest the choice of a lucky day is of greater importance than the careful tillage of the field; and to ensure a proper selection the Javanese must have the “windu,” the year, the month, the day, the hour. In each of the eight years of the windu a special method of ploughing, of sacrificing, praying, &c., must be employed. The Javanese is thus far from being an enlightened cultivator even of his one indispensable grain; and, though the ancestral custom must in many cases be really the result of ancient experience, the blindfold way in which it is applied results in very bad husbandry. The cultivation of the rice appears at present to be often carried on at a dead loss. The varieties of the cereal known to the Javanese are numerous; but they are commonly grouped as Oryza sativa, praecox, montana, and glutinosa. The first is the kind mainly sown in the sawahs or irrigation-fields; the montana, on the other hand, is suited for those in which there is no artificial irrigation,—either gogo-land, which has been only rudely cleared from the forest and brought under imperfect or temporary tillage, or the tagal, which is regularly subject year after year to the processes of husbandry.
Some idea may be formed of the extent of agricultural activity in Java from the following statement of the amount of land (in bouws,—the bouw or bahu being about 1∣ acres) cultivated for their own use by the natives of Java and Madura, excluding the native states and the private properties :— [table]
In 1879, leaving out of view the native territories and the private estates, the area under cultivation was 2,929,644 bouws. Of this aggregate, 1,504,052 bouws were sawahs capable of irrigation, 813,153 sawahs dependent on the rains, 49,219 marsh-sawahs, and 563,220 tagal fields. The system of communal proprietorship and annual redivision of the soil largely holds throughout Java, especially in the case of the irrigated lands; in a large number of instances it has taken the place of individual ownership within quite recent years, and in other instances the opposite process has been carried through. There are villages where the redistribution is repeated regularly every year, others where this is only done as often as the number of legitimate share-takers is increased or diminished. In some to prevent the excessive parcelling of the land a certain quota of the claimants are kept in abeyance at each term of allotment. To the reclaimer of virgin land belongs the ownership of the same. Details will be found in the official Eindrcsume van het onderzoek naar de rechten van den inlander op den grond, of which an epitome appears in De Indische Gids, 1880.
Besides rice the Javanese cultivate for their own use, on a smaller scale, maize (jagung), ground nuts, yams, Colocasia antiquorum, Coleus tuberosus, and cassava. The gardens and orchards in which their huts are embowered contain a great variety of fruits. The cocoa-nut holds an increasingly important place,—the best of the many varieties being the idjo; and the banana is even more common. For an account of these as well as other fruits cultivated in the native orchards (Artocarpus integrifolia, &c.) see a paper by Gelpke in De Indische Gids, 1880.
The Javanese possess buffaloes, ordinary cattle, horses, dogs, and cats. Attempts made by the Government to introduce the ass (1841) and the camel (1843-45) were not successful. The buffalo was probably introduced by the Hindus. The ordinary cattle are of very mixed race; the Indian zebu having been crossed with the banting and with European cattle of miscellaneous origin. The horses, though small, are of excellent character, and their masters, according to their own ideas, are extremely particular in regard to purity of race. Riding comes very naturally to the Javanese; horse-races and tournays have been in vogue amongst them from early times. The native sheep are of no value, for their wool, and the finest merinos, introduced by Hoile in 1872, soon degenerated to the same condition. Bees (apparently the small stingless Meli· pona minuta) are kept by the natives of the Preanger. The attempt to introduce the European varieties made in 1877-8 has proved very much of a failure. See Buitenzorg Report, 1879.
The production of rice is not of more importance to the native Javanese than the cultivation of the coffee-plant is to their European masters. The first coffee-plants grown in Java of which we have historical accounts were brought from Kananore on the coast of Malabar in 1696; but they perished in the earthquake and flood of 1699, and the honour of reintroducing the precious shrub belongs to Hendrik Zwaardekroon. The first shipment of Javanese coffee to the Netherlands was made in 1711-12; but it was not till after 1721 that the yearly exports reached any considerable amount. The aggregate quantity sold in the home market from 1711 to 1791 was 2,036,437 piculs (of 133 lb avoird.), and this must have represented nearly the whole production of the island. By the beginning of the 19th century the annual production was 120,000 piculs, and in spite of political interruptions this had increased by 1825 to 268,000 piculs. After the introduction of the Van den Bosch system a further augmentation was effected; and from the official reports it appears that from 1840 to 1873 the amount has ranged from 769,000 to 1,234,000 piculs. During the ten years 1869-1878 the average annual produce of the Government plantations was 878,000, that of the private planters 156,000 piculs. In 1878 the actual quantity of Government coffee was 831,515 piculs, and it was estimated that the total number of full grown plants in the island was 14,180,000. The collecting warehouses were 367.
Next in importance to the coffee plant is the sugar cane. Between 1853 and 1857 the average production of Java was 1,652,112 piculs; between 1869 and 1873, 2,809,968; and between 1875 and 1880, 3,438,912; the corresponding numbers for Brazil being 1,683,200, 2,176,000 and 2,110,256. The largest harvest in any single year in Java during all that period was that of 1877, 3,721,984 piculs. The cultivation of tea, commenced by Du Bus, lias also attained a considerable development; in 1879 the production amounted to upwards of 5,700,000 lb. The plantations are private enterprises on lands leased or granted as freehold by the Government. Most of them are in Batavia (Depart. Buitenzorg) and the Preanger Regencies. Cinchona is largely grown by the Government, and to some extent by the private planters. In 1879 the Government had 1,678,670 trees; the production was about 115,000 lb. Ten distinct varieties are in cultivation, Succiruba and Calisaya javanica preponderating. The tobacco plant is grown in nearly all the residencies, but most extensively in Kediri and Besuki. The production for the foreign market amounted in 1879 to 7,050,000 ft>.
The cultivation of the great wealth-giving crops of Java has long been carried on in the interest of the Government, the native peasantry being obliged to devote so much of their soil and toil to satisfy the demands of their European masters. The system by which, in this regard, the relations of the Government to the native were for a long time determined is generally known as the “culture system.” Introduced in 1830 by Van den Bosch, it continued in force till 1873, and has not altogether disappeared even yet. As far back as 1856 modifications of its arrangements were introduced by Duijmaer van Twist; and the position of the native was further improved by Sloet van de Beele. The reforms were for a time retarded by Governor Mijer; but in 1870, under the colonial minister Waal, a new agrarian law was passed which permitted the cession of uncultivated ground to Europeans on a lease of seventy-five years. The principal object of the “culture system” was the coffee plant, and it is only gradually that the restrictions of the older regulation have been relaxed. In 1872 a new regulation was introduced into the Preanger Regencies; in 1875 it was extended to the rest ôf the island with the exception of Pasuruan and the Tenger mountains; and in 1877 it was made applicable in Pasuruan likewise. By this new system the large plantations at a distance from the abodes of the “culture” peasants are to be replaced by smaller planta tions near the villages; no service is demanded from those whose lands and gardens are below a definite minimum, and the people cannot be called out for field work en masse ; fifty coffee plants is the greatest number that any one can be called on to plant in a year. The general scope of the newer legislation is to leave as much as possible to private initiative, native and European, but it will be a long time before the leading strings can be altogether dropped. In the words of Mr Kesteren :—
“The Javanese knows no freedom. His whole existence is ‘ regulationed. , If he is bound to render ‘ culture ’-service, the administration shows him to what department to apply himself, when and how he must plant. If he is not bound to render ‘ culture ’-service, but has the position of a so-called free agriculturist, tlje administration prescribes the time and method of sowing and planting his land. If he wishes to fix his habitation outside his village, the village chief may prevent him. If he has a dwelling of his own, the administration decides for him what sort of materials he must use for the roof. If lie has a hanging night lamp in his bamboo hut, he must not hang it against the wall.”
It is not in the coffee plantations only that his service is demanded by the Government. In 1879 there were 2,030,136 persons subject to the corvée; and the actual days of work required were 32,197,561, the greatest number of days which can be exacted from any indivi dual being 52 per annum. To watch the Government warehouses, to escort prisoners, to keep the roads and bridges in repair, to give assistance to persons travelling in the public sendee, are some of the many tasks which the native is called on to perform.
Mechanic Arts.— In these the Javanese are in advance of the other peoples of the archipelago. Of thirty different crafts practised among them, the most important are those of the blacksmith or cutler, the carpenter, the kris-sheath-maker, the coppersmith, the goldsmith, and the potter. Their skill in the working of the metals is the more noteworthy as they have to import the raw materials. The most esteemed product of the blacksmith’s skill is the kris; every man and boy above the age of fourteen wears one at least as part of his ordinary dress, and men of rank two and sometimes four. In the finishing and adornment of the finer weapons no expense is spared; and ancient krises of good workmanship sometimes fetch enormous prices. The Javanese gold and silver work possesses considerable beauty, but there is nothing equal to the filigree of Sumatra; the brass musical instruments are of exceptional excellence. Both bricks and tiles are largely made, as well as a coarse unglazed pottery similar to that of Hindustan; but all the finer wares are imported from China. Cotton spinning, weaving, and dyeing are carried on for the most part as purely domestic operations by the women. The usual mode of giving variety of colour is by weaving in stripes with a succession of different-coloured yarns, but another mode is to cover with melted wax or damar the part of the cloth not intended to receive the dye. This process is naturally a slow one, and has to be repeated according to the number of colours required. As a consequence the “battiks,” as the cloths thus treated are called, are in request by the wealthier classes. European imitations are easily detected, and do not pass muster; but a more rapid process of battiking by means of hand stamps has begun to be employed both by native and Chinese workers. For the most part quiet colours are preferred. To the Javanese of the present day the ancient buildings of the Hindu periods are the work of supernatural power. Except when employed by his European master he seldom builds anything more substantial than a bamboo or timber frame work; but in the details of such erections he exhibits both skill and taste. When Europeans first came to the island they found native vessels of large size well entitled to the name of ships; and, though shipbuilding proper is now carried on only under the direction of Europeans, boat-building is a very extensive native industry along the whole of the north coast—the boats sometimes reaching a burden of 50 tons.
The only one of the higher arts which the Javanese have carried to any degree of perfection is music; and in regard to the value of their efforts in this direction Europeans differ greatly. The orchestra (gamelari) consists of wind, string, and percussion instruments, the latter being in preponderancy to the other two. (Details on the instruments will be found in Raffles, and a description of a performance in the Tour du Monde, 1880. ) In connexion with this attention may be called to the wayangs or puppet plays, in which grotesque figures of gilded leather are moved by the performer, who recites the appropriate speeches, and as occasion demands plays the part of chorus. At least one Javanese, Raden Saleh, has attained eminence as a painter.
Population.— The data for tracing the increase of the population are far from satisfactory; and the returns even of the present time can only be accepted as rough approximations. Of the following tables the first gives the totals for Java and Madura for several years, and the second the details for the individual provinces at December 31, 1878, according to the Koloniaal Verslag of 1880. [table]
[table]
The population has thus increased considerably since 1872, when the return showed a total of 17,291,200. The most densely peopled districts (those occupied by the Javanese proper) have a greater number of inhabitants to the square mile than Belgium; the Sunda lands, on the other hand, and the Madurese districts have in comparison a sparse population.
The Government returns furnish the population of only the three largest towns. At the close of 1878 Batavia (town and suburbs) contained 97,585 inhabitants, of whom 4427 were Europeans, 23,466 Chinese, 68,822 natives, and 890 Arabs, &c.; the numbers for Samatang (total 79,443) were Europeans 2976, Chinese 7088, natives, 66,691, Arabs, &c., 2688, and for Surabaya (total 118,824), Europeans 4471, Chinese 6293, natives 106,599, Arabs, &c., 1461. It thus appears that iu respect of population Batavia is only second. The great bulk of the population is distributed over the country in villages usually called by Europeans dessas, from the Low Javanese word désâ (High Javanese dusun). This is really a Sanskrit word, known also in British India in the compounds desai (i.e., desadhipati), desmukh (he. , desa-mukha), equivalent to village chief. The Sundanesρ quasi-equivalent is lenibur, and several lenιburs or kampongs compose a·kalurahan or lurah-ship. 3 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 feet high. Within this lie the houses, each with its own enclosure or garth, which, even when the fields are the communal property, belongs to the individual householder. In the centre of the alun-alun or forum there is usually a giant wariιιgin or tjariιιgin tree (Urostigma benjaminunι), and on the west side stands the mosque. The capital of a district is only a larger dessa, and that of a regency (in Sundanese dayuh, in Low Javanese ncgàrà, hence the familiar negerτe) has the same general type, but consists of several kampongs or villages. The houses in the strictly Javanese districts are always built on the ground; in the Sunda lands they are raised on piles.
Administration.— The principal local European authority is known as the resident, who exercises judicial, financial, and administrative functions. As president of the council (l.andraad') and judge of the residency court he deals both with civil and with criminal cases; and he also acts as police magistrate in his more immediate district. Each of the assistant residents administers under his supervision one of the territorial departments (pfdeeliηgs) into which each residentship is divided. Next in rank is the European secretary of the resident, who, as occasion demands, acts as the resident’s substitute as president of the council, and performs a great variety of duties as recorder, notary public, registrar, <fcc. Subject to the assistant resident is the controller. “It is his first duty to look after the interests of the native population, and he may be considered as the link that connects the European with the native functionaries.” His district is of so limited an extent that he is able to make a personal inspection of every portion of it once a month, and to become intimately acquainted with all the native officials within its boundaries. There is almost nothing which can be considered as affecting either the welfare of the population or the success of the Government administration which lies beyond the scope of his supervision. At the same time he is entrusted with a very small share of executive authority; his function is to observe, to advise, to report. Under the perpetual guidance of these residents, assistant residents, and controllers, a large part of the administration of the country is carried on by the native functionaries. Of these the highest is the regent, whose rank and right of precedence is superior even to that of all European officials below the resident. Always belonging to one of the ancient noble families, he maintains the state and retinue of an independent prince, with all the elaborate environment of Oriental etiquette. He receives a large salary from the Dutch Government, possesses, in virtue of his office, a landed estate, and exercises large authority over the people of his regency. By the European officials also he is treated with full respect and consideration. But, appointed by the governor-general, he, as much as any ordinary official in the civil service, holds his office by the good-will of the Dutch Government. Insubordination is followed by dismissal; and dismissal involves the forfeiture of all the wealth and prestige which he possessed as regent. The regent’s substitute is known as pattih. The several districts of the regency (there are usually five or six) are administered by a wedaηα (wedono) or demaηg∙, and secondary subdivisions by assistant uιedanas or mantris (salaried). The wedânâ has also at his disposal a considerable number of volunteer mantris not officially recognized.
The following table shows the residentships and departments into which Java (with Madura) is divided :— [table]
There are thus (excluding the governor-general) 22 residents and 73 assistant residents. The normal number of controllers is 100, and of aspirant controllers 48, there being no controllers in Batavia, Jokjokarta, or Surakarta.
Chief Towns.— The principal town of the residency of Bantam is Sevang (6° 6' 45" S. lat. and 106° 8' 37" E. long.), bearing the same relation to the town of Bantam (about 6 miles distant) as New Batavia bears to Old Batavia. It is only 100 feet above the sealevel, but even this elevation renders the climate much better for Europeans than that of Bantam, and it is owing to this that Sevang has come to supplant the older city. For Bantam, see vol. iii. p. 347. Anyer lies on the coast at the narrowest part of the Sunda Straits, and vessels from Europe usually receive fresh provisions and water there. Pandeglang is 787 feet above the sea; in the vicinity are sulphur springs, both hot and cold.
Batavia, the capital of Dutch India, has already been described in vol. iii. p. 431. Meestcr Gomelis, between 6 and 7 miles from Batavia on the way to Buitenzorg, was the seat of a fort as early as the time of Valentijn. It was there that Daendels established his great entrenched camp, and it was there that the battle was fought (in 1811) which placed Java in the hands of the British. About 14 miles from Batavia lies Tangerang, a small but busy place, with several thousand Chinese among its inhabitants. In its vicinity is Bergzicht (Berzigt), formerly famous for its indigo. For Buitenzorg, see vol. iv. pp. 514-5.
The Krawang residency is one of the least populous in the whole island. The great post road does not enter the territory; the resident has less direct authority over his district than is enjoyed by his official compeers, and has no assistant resident. Krawang, the old capital, has lost its importance since Purwakaria became the administrative centre. This place, laid out by the commissioner Du Bus, has a large native and Chinese population. At Wanayasa, a considerable negärä, the first tea gardens on a large scale were attempted on the island.
The Preanger Regencies (Bandung, Tjandjur, Sumedang, Limbangan, Sukapura) constitute the most important of all the residencies. Bandung, the capital of the residency since 1864, is a flourishing place, with a handsome mosque, and normal school for native teachers. Tji Andjur, which was the administrative centre up to 1864, is of similar character to Bandung, though the removal of the resident and his subordinates has produced a certain decline in its importance. Tjitjalengka, in the very heart of the coffee districts, has developed greatly since the new system was introduced in 1870, and is certain to make further progress when the projected railways give it better communication with Bandung and Batavia. Sumedang is already a populous and prosperous negârâ. The ancient settlement of this name lay in another part of the regencies.
Chcribon (Tjeribon) is one of the most important places in Java, though the unhealthiness of the site has caused a number of the principal Europeans to settle about 2 miles to the north at Tangkil. The church erected in 1842, the regent’s residence, large warehouses for coffee and salt, and a prison are among the principal buildings. The native part of the town is to some extent laid out in European style. The Chinese quarter, large and populous, possesses the finest Chinese temple in Java. Cheribon is the residence of the descendants of the old sultan of Cheribon. The palaces are not so extensive as those of Surakarta and Jokjokarta. By the mud bank at its mouth, the Tjeribon (Shrimp River) does more harm than good to the town. The harbour is only kept available by constant dredging, but the roadstead is very good, all the year round. A strange pleasure palace of Sultan Sepuh, frequently described by travellers, lies about 2 miles from Cheribon near Sunya Raja. Mundu, a village 4 miles south-east of Cheribon, is remarkable as the only spot on the north coast of Java which is visited by the ikan prut or belly fish, a species about as large as a cod, caught in thousands, and salted by the local fishermen. Indramayu lies on both sides of the Tji Manuk, about 8 miles from the coast. It is mentioned as Dermayo in the old Portuguese and Dutch travels. As a port for the rice of the district of Indramayu, and for the coffee of the Preanger and Cheribon, the town seemed at one time to have a great commercial future before it, but the roadstead was safe only during the east monsoon. The river has a tendency to send its waters by the channel of the Kali Rambatan, and a process of silting up is going on rapidly. In 1876 the Government began the construction of works to prevent the change of course.
Tagal has long been one of the chief towns in Java,—foreign commerce, and native trade, industry, and fisheries, being all well developed. About 1845 Dr Bleekeι∙ estimated its population at 29,536, and, if the growth of the town has been similar to that of the residency, the total may now be set down as about 80,000. Since 1871 the harbour has been the object of various improvements. The town is regularly and well built. The native stonecutters, carpenters, dyers, and smiths of Tagal are particularly skilful. Pamalang is a thriving coast village, noteworthy for the quality of the oysters. Pekalongan (“abode of the kalongs”) is, like Tagal, an important town. It posssesses a large mosque, a Protestant church, a fort (now used as a prison and barracks), and a large number of European houses. The Chinese ward consists of neat stone or brick buildings. Dr Bleeker estimated the population at 15,000 in 1848; it must be now considerably more. The name of Pekalongan is associated with the smoked ducks prepared in the district. Batang is only 5 miles distant.
Samarang lies on the Kali Ngaran near the centre of the north coast. Round the market place are grouped the residences of the regent and his substitute, the mosque, thé military hospital, the town-house (erected in 1854-1864), the Government warehouses, &c. The hospital, formerly the palace of the governor of the north-east coast, has accommodation for 550 European patients. The town was formerly surrounded by a wall and ditch, but these were removed in 1824, and it is now protected by a fort and a coast battery. The old European portion of the town is almost the exact reproduction of a Dutch town, without the slightest accommodation to the exigencies of the climate. A new impulse was given to Samarang by the opening of the railway to Surakarta and Jokjokarta (1873). As a seaport the place is unfortunately situated: the river is long since silted up; the roads are insecure during the west monsoon; it was only after many delays that in 1879 the artificial canal, commenced in 1858 as a substitute for the river, became available; and in the opinion of the Government commission of 1876 it would be useless to attempt the erection of works similar to those of Batavia. Demak, the chief town of a regency famous in the ancient Javanese history, lies 13 miles north-east of Samarang. The mosque, erected by the first sultan of Demak, was rebuilt in 1845, and only a small part of the old structure has been preserved; but the tombs of several of the sultans are to be seen near at hand. Salatiga (that is, “Three Stones,” with allusion to three temples now destroyed) was in early times one of the regular resting-places for ambassadors proceeding from the coast to the court of Mataram; and in the European history of Java its name is associated with the peace of 1755 and the capitulation of 1811. It is the headquarters of the only regiment of cavalry in the Dutch East Indian army. Besides the garrison, the European population numbers some 400 or 500 persons. About the same number of Europeans are settled at Ambarawa, which consists of the contiguous villages Pundjaug, Ambarawa, Losari, and Kupang, and lies about a mile north of the fortress Willem I., which Van den Bosch intended to make the central point of the Javanese system of defensive works. Ungaran (1026 feet above the sea) was a place of importance as early as the time of Valentijn, and in modern times has become known as a sanatarium.
Japara was in Valentijn’s days one of the most flourishing of the. Javanese coast towns; and it was still a place of prosperous commerce during the British occupation; but the harbour has greatly deteriorated, and the town is declining. Joana has a strikingly Dutch appearance; it is often mentioned in the early narratives. Kudus is a place of more than 14,000 inhabitants. Rernbang, a well-built town, contains a considerable European settlement and a number of European institutions; the population exceeds 10,000.
Surabaya, as already mentioned, is the largest town in Java, and ranks next to Batavia in the variety of its religious, educational, charitable, and commercial institutions. It owes this position to the fact that its harbour is the best in the island. Since 1849 it has been the seat of Government dockyards and arsenals; and there are also extensive barracks, a military hospital, &c. The population includes Javanese, Madurese, Indians from Bengal, Moors, and Chinese. Grissee (Gresik) has a fairly good harbour, and. is of special interest in the early European history of Java. Pasu∙ man ranks as the fourth town in the island; it is well built, and has a considerable European settlement. Probolingo (called by the natives Banger), Bcsuki, and Banyuwangi are all prosperous places of from 7000 to 15,000 inhabitants. The residency of Banyuwangi is one of the least opened up of the whole island. Banyumas contains a population of about 10,000 inhabitants, but there are no objects worthy of particular notice. The name, equivalent to “gold-water,” was bestowed by its founder Aryâ Sureng Rânâ from the auriferous character of the river Serayu on which it stands. Tjilatjap, though not the capital of the residency, is a much more important and interesting place. It possesses the best harbour of all the south coast, situated at the mouth of the canal Kali Sesukan, which runs between the Serayιι and the sea, and protected by the island of Nusa Kambangan; and it has been chosen as the seat of a principal military establishment. A battery was erected close to the town in 1878, and on Kambangan lie the forts Karang Bolong and Batu Njapa. The pile-villages of the Segara Anakan (as the enclosed bay is called) and the stalactite and mephitic caves of the island are objects of much interest. Purworcdjo, the'chief town of Bagel en, became of some importance during the Java war as a military establishment, and is still occupied by a considerable garrison. It is laid out in a spacious style; and both the native and the Chinese quarters are well kept. The population is large, and it is an important seat of native industry. J
Very similar to each other aie Surakarta and Jokjokarta, the chief towns of the independent states. The former contains the palace of the susuhunan or emperor, the residence of the independent prince Mangku Negoro, the fort of Vastenburg, a Protestant church, and a considerable number of European buildings.
Inhabitants.— Leaving out of view the Europeans and the Oriental immigrants—scarcely a seventh part of the population—the inhabitants of Java 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—not so deeply wrought—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 five residencies of Bantam, Batavia, Krawang, Cheribon, and the Preanger Regencies. The limits of the Madurese area are not so easily given. Besides the island of Madura, the residencies to the east of Surabaya and Kediri are largely occupied by them. The residencies of Tagal, Pekalongan, Banyumas, Bagelen, Kadu, Samarang, Japara, Surakarta, Jokjokarta, Rembang, Madiun, Kediri, and Surabaya have an almost purely Javanese population. Professor Veth estimates the number of the Sundanese at about 4,000,000, the Madurese at 1,600,000, and the Javanese at 11,500,000. The Javanese are the most civilized of the three peoples.
The colour of the skin in all three cases presents various shades of yellowish-brown with a touch of olive-green; 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 Malay is usually less than the European. The Sundanese is less than the Javanese proper, being seldom 5 feet in height; at the same time he 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; athong the Sundanese it is often oblique. The nose is generally flat and small, with wide nostrils; but among the Javanese it not unfrequently becomes aquiline. The lips are thick but 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 :—“She shone bright even in the dark” is the highest compliment of poetic adulation (compare Raffles, Java, vol. i. p. 92). To judge by their early history, the Javanese must have been a warlike and vigorous people, with somewhat of ferocity to boot. Àt present they are peaceable, docile, sober, simple, and industrious. The practice of running amuck is of very rare occurrence among them.
Religion.— The Javanese are nominally Mahometans, as in former times they were Buddhists and Brahmans; but in reality, not only such exceptional groups as the Kalaugs of Surakarta and Jokjokarta 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, and in the essence of their creed but little removed from their ruder brethren the Dayaks of Borneo and the Battaks of Sumatra. Into the original web indeed they have from time to time introduced fragments from every religious system with which they have come into contact; and no attempt has been made to rationalize into even superficial harmony the rudest of the resulting incongruities. The number of the spirits (Hyang or Yang, and with honorific prefix Sanghyang) worshipped by the Javanese is limitless. Every village has its patron spirit, whose presence was the indispensable condition of its foundation; to his influence all the fortune, good or bad, of the village is ascribed. Under a great shadowy tree stands an altar on which the worshipper lays his offering of incense and flowers, uttering meanwhile in broken Arabic the alien formula—“There is no God but God, and Mahomet is his prophet.” To every field likewise belongs its special patron spirit, to whom due reverence must be shown. Nor is protection the only office of the Hyang. Mentik causes a particular disease in the rice; Sawan produces convulsions in children: gout and rheumatism are ascribed to the influence of Dengen; Ki or Kyai Belorong gives men wealth in exchange for their souls. Ratu Loro Kidul is princess of the southern sea, and has her seat among the caves and fiords of the southern coast. Within the region of her sway the Javanese will not speak loud lest he disturb the repose of her subject spirits. Near Rongkob in Jokjokarta, one of the places where edible nests are collected, the princess has a temple which none may enter save the priest alone; and similar temples exist in similar localities. The whole life of the Javanese, indeed, is enveloped in a mesh of mystery; not the stars only and the heavens rain influence, but from every object a spiritual emanation, invisible for the most part, but potent and exhaustless, flows forth to him for blessing or for curse. Even Mahometanism with its One God has done little more than increase the number of supersensual beings to whom he prays. To Joseph he presents offerings that he may obtain beautiful children, to Solomon for honour and rank, to Moses for bravery, to Jesus for learning. The ritual of his religion—and his whole round of life is part of his religion—is intricate almost beyond conception, and at the same time rigid and precise. Everything must be done by rule and rubric; the unwritten law handed down from father to son allows of no curtailment or modification. Each individual class of offering must be prepared in its own peculiar way; the rice, for example,—which is one of the chief sacrificial substances,—must now be white, now red, now hard, now soft.
As we ascend in the social scale we find the name of Mahometan more and more applicable; and consequently in spite of the paganism of the populace the influence of the Mahometan “priests” (this is their official title in Dutch) is widespread and real. Great prestige attaches to the name of Mecca pilgrim. In every considerable town there is a mosque. Compare Indian Archipelago, vol. xii. p. 819.
For the Christianizing of the Javanese very little has been done. In East Java the chief mission stations are Modjo Warno (with a population of 2327 souls in 1879, inclusive of seven out-stations), Kediri (698), and Malang (700), maintained by the Netherlands Missionary Society, and Japara maintained by the Dutch Baptist Society. In West Java the Netherlands Mission Union has seven stations—Tjandjur, Buitenzorg, Indramayu, Sukabumi, Sumedang, Madjalengka, and Cheribon. At Depok, 18 miles from Batavia, the Batavian Missionary Society established in 1878 a seminary for native preachers. The native church of Depok was originated by Cornelis Chastelein, who left his estate to his slaves, whom he liberated on condition of their embracing Christianity. Mr Brückner of Samarang, appointed to Java in 1812 by the Netherlands Society, translated the New Testament into Javanese, but the work was confiscated by the Government. Gericke, an agent of the Netherlands Bible Society, was more fortunate; his versions of both the Old and the New Testament, as well as his grammar and dictionary (edited by Roorda, Amst., 1843, 1847), have seen more than one edition. Language and Literature.— Javanese, Sundanese, and Madurese are the three native languages of Java and Madura. To take the least important first,—Sundanese is only spoken in its purity in the Preanger Regencies and the neighbouring parts of Bantam, Buitenzorg, Krawang, and Cheribon, and it is gradually losing ground. To Javanese it stands in the relation that Scotch stood to English about a century ago. The main body of Madurese is distinctly different from both old and new Javanese; but it hasincor- .porated a very large number of purely Javanese words. In spite of these two languages and the intrusive Malay, Javanese has a full right to its name as the dominant speech of the island. It is not one language, but two. The nobles speak to the commonalty in the language of the commonalty, the commonalty to the nobles in the language of the nobles; and according to clearly understood regulations of etiquette every Javanese plays the part of nobleman or commoner to his interlocutor. The aristocratic form is known as Krama or court speech, the popular as Ngoko, or the “thou-”ing speech (Fr., tutoyant, Germ., duzend) ; and between the two forms there is a sort of compromise, the Hadja or middle speech, employed by those who stand to each other on an equal and friendly footing, or by those who feel little constraint of etiquette. For every idea that can be expressed in the language Krâmâ has one expression, Ngoko another, the two words being sometimes completely different, sometimes only differing in the termination, the beginning, or the middle. Thus every Javanese makes use of two languages, and, what is more difficult, of two languages delicately differentiated from each other. Javanese as now spoken is far from being the same as the language of the old inscriptions and manuscripts. The latter (which is usually called Kawi, though some scholars insist on the name Old Javanese) was probably based on the Javanese of Mâdjâkerto, while the Krâmâ of the present day finds its type in that of Surakarta. It is easy to explain the existence of the Krâmâ and the Ngoko. The Hindu conquerors of Java, in gradually adopting the speech of their Malay subjects modified it to suit their own taste and sense of superiority; and the subjects meanwhile continued to speak as they were wont. In its vocabulary Javanese Krâmâ has a large number of words of Sanskrit origin; and in modern times there has been a considerable adoption of foreign words from and through the Dutch. Krâmâ usually takes one form, Ngoko another; thus the word particulier appears in the former a 5 pedjαhkelir, in the other as patikelir f Like all the alphabets of the Indian archipelago except the Malay, the Javanese is derived from the Devanagari. When Javanese is written in Arabic characters it is called pégon.
Though a considerable body of Kawi literature is still extant, nothing like a history of it is possible. The date and authorship of most of the works are totally unknown. The first place may be assigned to the Brαtα Yudιι (that is Sansk., Bharata Yuelha, the conflict of the Bharatas), an epic poem dealing with the struggle between the Pandâwâs and the Korâwas for the throne of Ngastina celebrated in parwas 5-10 of the Mahabharata. To the conception, however, of the modern Javanese it is a purely native poem; its kings and heroes find their place in the native history ’-and serve as ancestors to their noble families. (Cohen Stuart published the modern Javanese version with a Dutch translation and notes, Brâtâ-Joedâ, &c., Samarang, 1877. The Kawi text was lithographed at the Hague by S. Lankhout.) Of greater antiquity probably is the ArdjunA ÏViw&hà (or marriage festival of Ardjuna), which Professor Kern thinks may be assigned to the first half of the 11th century of the Christian era. The very name indicates its Mahâbhârata origin. (Friederich published the Kawi text from a Bali MS., and more recently we have from him Wiwähä Djarwa en Braid, Jocdo Kawi, lithographed facsimiles of two palm leaf MSS., Batavia, 1878. Djarwa is the name of the poetic diction of modern Javanese.) The oldest poem of which any trace is preserved is probably the mythological -Kândâ (ι.e., tradition); the contents are to some extent known from the modern Javanese version.
In the literature of modern Javanese there exists a great variety of so-called babads or chronicles. It is sufficient to mention the “history” of Baron Sakender, which appears to give an account— often hardly recognizable—of the settlement of Europeans in Java (Cohen Stuart has published text and translation; Professor Veth gives an analysis of the contents), and the Babad Tanah Djawi (Hague, 1874, 1877), giving the history of the island to 1647 of the Javanese era. Even more numerous are the puppet-plays which usually take their subjects from the Hindu legends or from those relating to the kingdoms of Madjapahit and Padjadjaram (see, e.g., H. C. Humme, Abiàsà, een Javaanschc toneelstuk, Hague, 1878).
Several Javanese specimens are also known of the beast fable, which plays so important apart in Sanskrit literature (W. Palmer van den Broek, Javaanschc Verteilungen, bcvcιttcnde de lotgevallen van ccn kan>jil, ccn rccbok, &c., Hague, 1878). To the Hindu-Javanese literature there has naturally succeeded a Mahometan-Javanese literature consisting largely of translations or imitations of Arabic originals; it comprises religious romances, moral exhortations, and mystical treatises in great variety.
The reader may consult Rodet, Études sur la littérature javanaise; Van der Berg’s account of the MSS. of the Batavian Society, Hague, 1877; and a series of papers by C. Poensen in Mcdcd. van wege het Ned. Zendelinggenootschap, 1880.
Antiquities.— The ruins left by the early Hindu conquerors of Java are among the most remarkable objects of interest throughout the island. Temples (or tjandis, to use the Javanese name) are common in both middle and eastern Java,—in Banyumas, Bagelen, Kadu, Jokjokarta, Surakarta, and Samarang, and in Surabaya, Kediri, Pasuruan, and Probolingo. They are absent from the Sunda lands in the one direction and from Madura in the other.
Most famous of all the temple ruins is that of Bârâ-Budur. It lies a little to the west of the right bank of the Prâgâ, which falls into the Indian Ocean. A hill rising above the plain 154 feet afforded a ready site for the structure, and the lava blocks with which the ground was strewn supplied abundance of material. The accompanying view and ground plan will give some idea of the general arrangement amΓeffect. A square terrace, each side 497 feet long, encloses the hill at a height of 50 feet; 5 feet above this there is a second terrace, each side 365 feet; 11 feet higher comes a third terrace of similar shape; and then follow four other ramparts and four other terraces. The whole structure is crowned by a cupola 52 feet in diameter, surrounded by sixteen smaller bell-shaped cupolas. It is suggestive of the richness of the style to mention that on the outside of the wall of the second enceinte there are one hundred and four niches, each with its image of Buddha on a lotus throne hewn out of a single block 5 feet high; and between the niches are sitting figures, man and woman alternately. The inside of the same enceinte is even more richly adorned with at least five hundred and sixty-eight bas reliefs, representing scenes in the Buddha legend. Of the chronological date of the temple there is no certain knowledge, but it contains evidence enough in itself to fix its position in the historical movement of the Hindu creeds.
“The mixture of Buddhism and Brahmanism is best seen,” says R. Friederich (Tijdsch. der Ind. T. L. en Volkenkunde), “in the three upper and inner galleries of Boro Budur. In the first we see the history of Çakyamuni from the annunciation of his descent from the heaven of Indra till his transformation into Buddha, with some scenes of his life. The thirteen first scenes in the second gallery likewise represent Buddha as a teacher with his pupils; after that it would seem as if a concordat had been formed between the different cults; we have first in three separate scenes Buddha, Vishnu (Batara Guru), and Siva, all together, and other groups follow, Buddhistic and Sivaite without distinction. It is only in the fourth gallery that we again find Buddha dominant Already in the first gallery we also see Brahmanic divinities, Garonda for example, but not in separate scenes. In my opinion the cupola is the principal and the most ancient part of the temple of Boro Budor; it must have been intended to serve as a daha-gopa (dagoba), i.e., a place for the enshrining of relics. I do not as yet know of any other dagoba in Java; but I should not be surprised at their discovery. The dagobas of Ceylon have an exterior resemblance to the Boro Budur cupola; but I prefer to classify it rather with the topes or stupas of Afghanistan.”
The writer goes on to point out that the sculptures of the lower galleries are not so carefully finished; and the lions and some other subjects on the outside of the temple have never been completed. About 3 miles to the north-east of Bârâ Budur, and probably belonging to the same period, stands another beautiful temple—Tjandi Mendut or Mundut—on the left bank of the Ellâ before it joins the Prâgâ. It was first discovered by Hartmann, the resident of Magelang, in 1834, under the sand and ashes with which the Merapi volcano had covered it. See C. W. Mieling’s Jaυasche Oudheden, 1852 and 1856; and Colonel Yule’s account of his visit in Journ. Roy. As. Soc. Bengal, 1862.
On the Dieng plateau in Bagelen, mentioned as a holy mountain in the oldest known Javanese inscription, there exists a remarkable group of temples—which has been styled the Benares of Central Java. They stand 6500 feet above the sea; and roads and stairways (locally known as Buddha’s roads) lead up from the lowlands of Bagelen and Pekalongan. The stairway betλveen Lake Mendjer and Lake Tjebong alone consisted of upwards of 4700 steps. A great subterranean channel served to drain the plateau. The Tjandis are very numerous, the largest and most beautiful being Tjandi Bimâ, but the best preserved the Ardjunâ group. The buildings are unfortunately covered to about a third of their height. In the same residency as Dieng are situated the temple caves of Kutâ Ardjâ discovered by Kinder in 1853. They are distributed in four groups, and apparently from the linga symbol belong to the worship of Siva. Near Râgâ Djampi (Banyuwangi) are the rains of the town of Matjan Putιh—of astonishing extent, but for the most part only shapeless mounds. The town walls were 12 feet high and 6 feet broad. A temple built of white limestone is the chief ruin. It seems to belong to the late Siva period of Javanese Hindu art. The much more famous city of Mâdjâpahit has left its ruins not far from Mâdjâkerto, in Surabaya.
Of the minor antiquities of Java the most valuable are the inscriptions on stone and copper, though, owing to the variety of the characters which have been employed, the task of deciphering and interpreting is peculiarly difficult. The proposal of the Batavian Society in 1843 to issue a Corpus of Javanese inscriptions came to ,nought; of private investigators the most successful are Friederich and Kern. The inscriptions of Batu Beragung (1347) and Payer-rayung (1356), that on an image of Buddha now in the Berlin Museum, that on a rock in the Dieng mountains discovered by Junghuhn, and that preserved at Minto House, in Scotland, are considered of special importance. At Sukuh and Tjeta, on the slope of Lawu, there is a peculiar series in a special character deciphered by Van der Vlis. The famous Menang Kebau inscriptions, being the work of Javanese settlers, belong rather to Java than Sumatra; but Professor Kern has shown that, instead of being, as at. one time supposed, the oldest epigraphic monument in the Archipelago, they really belong to the most modern Hindu period {cf. Cohen Stuart in Bijd. tot de T. L. en V. Kunde, viii. 1, 1873). Of the Javanese copper plates the most important collection is Cohen Stuart’s Kawi 0orκonden in Facsimile, 1875.
The Name Java.— The origin of this name is very doubtful. It is not improbable that it was first applied either to Sumatra or to what was known of the Indian archipelago—the insular character of the several parts not being at once recognized. Jawa Dwipa, or “land of millet,” may have been the original form and have given rise both to the J aba diu of Ptolemy and to the Je-pho-thi of Fattien, the Chinese pilgrim of the 4th or 5th century. The oldest form of the name in Arabic is apparently Zâbej. The first epigraphic occurrence of Jawa is in an inscription of 1343. In Marco Polo the name is the common appellation of all the Sunda islands. The Jawa of Ibn Batuta is Sumatra; Java is his Mui Jawa {j.e., possibly “original Java”). Jâwâ is the modern Javanese name (in the court speech Jawi), sometimes with Nusa, “island,” or Tanah, “country,” prefixed.
History.— The history of Java in its main outlines can be very briefly given; in detail it is burdened with endless complications, inconsistent accounts, and imaginative adornments. It is impossible to extract a rational narrative from the earlier babads or native chronicles, and even the later are destitute of any satisfactory chronology. The first great moment in the history is the ascendency of the Hindus, and that breaks up into three periods, —a period of Buddhism, a period of aggressive Sivaism, and a period of apparent compromise. Of the various Hindu states that were established in the island, that of Madjapahit was the most widely dominant; its tributaries were many, and it even extended its sway into other parts of the archipelago. The second moment of the history is the invasion of Islam in the beginning of the 15th century; and the third is the establishment of European and more particularly of Dutch influence and authority in the island. In its general features this last and most important section reads very much like the narrative of the British subjugation of India. At the time when the Dutch East Indian Company began to fix its trading factories on the coast towns, the chief native state was Mataram, which had in the 16th century succeeded to the overlordship possessed by the house of Demak—one of the states that rose after the fall of Madjapahit. The “emperors of Java,” as the princes of Mataram are called in the early accounts, had their capital at Karta-sura, now an almost deserted place, 6 miles west of Surakarta. At first and for long the company had only forts and little fragments of territory at Jakatra (Batavia), &c.; but in 1705 it obtained definite possession of the Preanger by treaty with Mataram; and in 1745 its authority was extended over the whole north-east coast, from Cheribon to Banyuwangi. In 1755 the kingdom of Mataram was divided into the two states of Surakarta and Jokjokarta, which still retain nominal independence. The kingdom of Bantam was finally subjugated in 1808. By the English occupation of the island (1811-18) the European ascendency was rather strengthened than weakened; and the great Java war (1825-30), in which Dipa Negârâ. made a last great struggle to maintain the position of the native dynasty, resulted in the complete success of the Dutch.
The fullest account of Java is contained in Professor Veth's Java: Geographisch, Ethnologisch, Historisch, 3 vols., Haarlem, 1875-80. ’ lhe first volume tonsists of a general description of the geography, flora, fauna, inhabitants, language, &c.; the second gives a history of the native states (leaving the growth of the Dutch power, already treated in detail by De Jonge, as much as possible out of view); and the third presents a topographical description of each of the residencies. The very existence of such a work implies the previous existence of a vast literature on its subject. Besides Junghuhn, Raffles, and others referred to above, and under the heading Indian Archipelago, we may mention Ryckl<.ff van Goens, Javaense Reyse . . . in den Jure 165β, Dort, 1666; Hogendorp, Coup d'oeil sur rile de Java, Brussels, 1830; Pfyffer von Neueck, Skizzen von der Insel Java, <fcc., 1829; Kussendragen, Natuur. en aardrijksk. beschrijving van Java, Groningen, 1841; W. R. van Hoevell, Reis over Java, Amsterdam, 1849, <fcc., and Uit het Ind. leren, Zaltbommel, 1860; D’Almeida, Life in Java; Pijnappel, Geographie van Ned. Ind. ; Hollander, IIandleiding voor de land en volkenkunde van Nederlansch Indie. Gramberg’s historical romances, and E. D. Dekker (Multatuli), Max Havelaar of de Koffieveilingen der Nederlandsche Handelsmaat-schappij, Amsterdam, 1860, are of value for their pictures of Javanese life. Professor Veth's work contains physical, historical, and topographical maps. Others on a larger scale will be found in the Atlas van Nederland en zijne Over-teesche Bezittingen, published by A. W. Sijthoff, 1879.
