Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1909-04-30
DR.. Edwards Letter

- Slldlld lO llle east coast. 1
ASIA. This Malay archipelago is
tie greatest wonder of the world
the mystery of the ages. 1t
. IS vast, almost unknown, yet the
not peculiar portion of the ter
l''l.ial globe. The archipelago is
composed Of thousands of is
lands, from greatest to smallest,
ard contains eight million square
/. miles of territory. The wonder.
fri and populOus Malay race,
most peculiar of all the human
family, people this group of is
lands in teeming millions, with
an ancestry which lies 50 deeply
liiddtn in the night of time that
the degenerate natives of today
living in huts Of bamboo, Look
with. awe on the ruins of archi.
tectural grandeur which dot the
ILLS with remains of temples SC
vast and SO beautiful, yet so an
Gent that all knowledge of their
origin is Lost to mans memory
Not even legend remains to tell
Of the mighty civilized race OF
people who built these struc-
lures which surpass in beauty ant
grandeur the pyramids of Egypt
the temples of India or the too
calls of Genital America.
Bathed in the warm waters OF
the Indian ocean, and the China
and Java seas, far within the
tropics and in the region of great
est heat and most abundant rains
this island may be classed as q
country different from the rest Of
the world, different in race, gov
eminent, speech, climate and an.
innate and inanimate nature. 1t is
without doubt the most produc-
tive, the most fertile, the most
pOpulOus and the best govern
ed island in the world. The Hol
landerS have shown civilization
the true way of bringing an alien
= and semi-savage race into high
est development with none of the
degeneracy which marks usual at
tempts at civilization.
Here the naturalist may find
strangest of specimens. Animals
birds, reptiles and fishes that are
to be found nowhere else in the
world are here in such numbers a
to be constant surprise. Here
the peafowl which we see al
home adjoining lawns or parks
roam in innumeable flocks in a
state of wildneSS similar to the
wild turkey in America. The com
mon barn-yard fowl of our home
j, runs wild here, and shows the
b. same trait which marks it's civ.
'ilized cousin that has been train
ed through long generations OF
dOmesticity. | saw a beautiful
brown leghOrn cock in the woods
recently and supposed, of cOurst
that it belonged to some native.
was told that it was wild, and
that this was the original home
Of the fighting cocks of civiliza.
lion. The Guinea fowl, which dis
: turbS the quiet of many a farm il
he United States, is a native vii,
bird here, shy as the grouse
or prairie chicken.
Monkeys in great droves roam
the woods, lmplnge upon tht
homes, and make themselves the
delight and pest of travellers. As
we drove through a dense trOpi-
cal forest yesterday troupe of
little monkeys followed us, chat
tering and playing in the trees,
Now and then more ventureSome
members of the band would leap
upon the top of our carriage
ride with us several rods and
leap back to the trees to chatter
about their experience. Sometime.
they ran in droves in front of the
little ponies drawing the carriag.
eS, as if trying to obstruct our
passage.
Harmless Serpents of most beau
tiful hues vie with others that
carry most deadly of poisOns. Al.
ngatOrS seem but greater growth
of the iguanas, which in turn
seem but larger Lizards, AM
. they all appear to be. but a part
OF the general scheme of strange.
:. ness. This is the lower Life OF
Java forests, and one could well
spend wears here, always seeing
something new and something
strange.
| have tried to give my readers
a brief idea of the wonderful
country in which l shall spend
several weeks, and in my next