Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1918-10-24

ak, Java.
for my head? In despair closed the
Dutch guide book, seized the pith he'll
met which alone stood between me and
social disqualification and went on
deck. AS a Dutch gourmand I had
failed; my wardrobe was parody on
what Java demanded of it's visitor. I
longed to be back again in the simple
life of Borneo, or the normal existence
of British India.
With official letters from the Hol-
land government in addition to my reg
ular credentials, the stupid customs
men Of Tandjong-Priol1 refused admis-
sion to guns and all Instruments the
use of which was strange to them. This
accepted with regret but equanimity,
but only my complete loss of temper
and my clear intention to start some
thing at once, persuaded them to re-
turn to me my personal letters and
passports.
All Scrubbed and Labeled.
After few uneventful days in Bata-
via we went up to it's mountain suburb,
Bultenzorg, and here was Dutch ex-
aggeration at its best-the great botan-
zeal gardens which far excel Kew, Per-
ediniya and Hope, and admit only those
of Georgetown poor second. Yet
one tired after while of the perfectly
cared-for lawns and walks, the labeled
palms and tagged orchids. The houses
and streets were scrubbed too clean,
and behind the Venetian blinds one de-
tected inharmony and discomfort. But
distance and the setting sun made the
outlook from our hotel veranda per-
feet and altogether lovely. A mass Of
green rolled steeply down 200 feet to
the Tydane, hurrying swiftly along.
with scores of men, women and chill
dren tumbling about in it. For half q
mile the valley stretched out before
us, a dense carpet of verdure-feath-
/, cry palms or close-leaved taller trees.
here and there broken by the red-tiled.
| trimmed little roofs of the watt
| tied huts. The deciduous trees stood
motionless, but every breath of air
| futtered the myriad streamered palm
fronds into blur.
Dominating the whole background
| and rising slowly and gracefully from
| the valley was Mount Salak, it's sum-
nit jagged and broken, but clearly
| revealing the contour of the mighty
! crater. Only in early morning was it
quite free Of cloud. Soon wisps of
mist would begin to weave about the
summit, skeins Of translucent blue
tangling the outjutting crags. later to
be dissipated, or to increase in STRATA
become opaque and close silently down
over the great mountain. With slight
variations this description will apply
to the great proportion Of Java, the
human element being usually more
emphasized, with it's exterior of pic-
turesqueness, but with ideals which
begin and end with guilders and Off
spring. = .-."',-->-'ssg
One thing impressed me in Buiten.
zorg; the marvellous balanced. pole
method of transportation, everything
from babies to dried fish being swung
on two baskets or platforms attached
to IL plant pole resting on the Shout
ders or back of the neck. Up the path
to our veranda battered peripatetic de-
partment stores, the great twin piles OF
garish notions, mostly "made in Ger
many" coming to rest as the floor
walker and owner squatted between
them. Far more attractive We're the
dual piles of bright colored fruit, papa
jas, rambutans, salaks, the acid bilim.
hi, and finally the DURAN and mango
steen as examples of opposite ends of
the gustatory gamut. The percentage
demanded by the money lenders made
of their balanced pole veriest paro-
dy of the scales of Justice. One of the
last glimpscs of Buitenzorg's streets
showed an ambulatory restaurant, with
a red-hot stove in one swing and in
the other pile of dishes and viands.