doubt wonderfully rich in tropical and especially in Malayan plants, but
there is a great absence of skillful laying-out; there are not enough
men to keep the place thoroughly in order, and the plants themselves
are seldom to be compared for luxuriance and beauty to the same species
grown in our hothouses. This can easily be explained. The plants can
rarely be placed in natural or very favourable conditions. The climate
is either too hot or too cool, too moist or too dry, for a large
proportion of them, and they seldom get the exact quantity of shade
or the right quality of soil to suit them. In our stoves these varied
conditions can be supplied to each individual plant far better than in a
large garden, where the fact that the plants are most of them growing in
or near their native country is supposed to preclude, the necessity of
giving them much individual attention. Still, however, there is much to
admire here. There are avenues of stately palms, and clumps of bamboos
of perhaps fifty different kinds; and an endless variety of tropical
shrubs and trees with strange and beautiful foliage. As a change from
the excessive heat of Batavia, Buitenzorg is a delightful abode. It is
just elevated enough to have deliciously cool evenings and nights, but
not so much as to require any change of clothing; and to a person long
resident in the hotter climate of the plains, the air is always fresh
and pleasant, and admits of walking at almost any hour of the day. The
vicinity is most picturesque and luxuriant, and the great volcano
of Gunung Salak, with its truncated and jagged summit, forms a
characteristic background to many of the landscapes. A great mud
eruption took place in 1699, since which date the mountain has been
entirely inactive.
On leaving Buitenzorg, I had coolies to carry my baggage and a horse
for myself, both to be changed every six or seven miles. The road rose
gradually, and after the first stage the hills closed in a little on
each side, forming a broad valley; and the temperature was so cool and
agreeable, and the country so interesting, that I preferred walking.
Native villages imbedded in fruit trees, and pretty villas inhabited by
planters or retired Dutch officials, gave this district a very pleasing
and civilized aspect; but what most attracted my attention was the
system of terrace-cultivation, which is here universally adopted, and
which is, I should think, hardly equalled in the world. The slopes of
the main valley, and of its branches, were everywhere cut in terraces up
to a considerable height, and when they wound round the recesses of the
hills produced all the effect of magnificent amphitheatres. Hundreds of
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