ART. VIII. The History of Java. By THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES, Esq. late Lieutenant-Governor of that Island and its Dependencies. In two Volumes, with a Map and Plates. Quarto. Printed for Black, Parbury and Allen, Leadenhall-Street, and John Murray, Albemarle-Street, 1818.

WE now redeem our pledge to the public, by offering some account of the very valuable work before us; which presents, to the British reader at least, the only authentic and detailed account of a land of eminent fertility and happy situation, inhabited by an interesting race of people, hardly fewer than five millions in number; and whose history, it is now discovered, chiefly by the industry of our countrymen, is connected with that of the three great civilized nations of continental, Asia-the Hindus, the Chinese, and the Arabs.

Of the stock of important information contained in Sir Stamford Raffles's two large volumes, it is but a small share which our limits will enable us to give. We hasten, however, to give such a sketch as those limits will afford; and we shall do so under the heads of Topography-Climate-Physical and Moral Character-Inhabitants-Government-Law and ReligionAmusements-Language and Literature-Agriculture-State of the Arts-Population-Civil History and Revenue-summing up the whole with a few remarks on Colonization.

The word Jawa, corrupted by Europeans into Java, with less violence than usual to Asiatic orthography, is properly the name of the principal nation of the island, bestowed, as is common in such cases, (of which we have a domestic illustration in the word England), upon the whole territory, and requiring, in the original, the addition of some such words as land, country, island, &c. &c.-making the land, the country, or island of the Jawa.

Java lies between the longitudes of 105° 11' and 114° 33′ cast of Greenwich, and between 5° 52′ and 8° 46' of south latitude. Its extreme length is 666 statute miles, and its extreme breadth about 135; but that breadth is very unequal, and in some places does not exceed 50 miles; so that the area of the island is little more than 50,000 square miles. Madura, an island lying close to Java, where it is narrowest, and seeming to form a part of it, is 914 English miles in length, and about 31 in breadth.

The most remarkable circumstance in the form of Java thus appears to be its irregularity, narrowness, and great length,which necessarily give it an extraordinary extent of coast, ren

der all its parts remarkably accessible, and have, in all probability, contributed to its early civilization and improvement.

The island, however, is rather deficient in harbours; the north coast affording but one good one, that of Sus-abaya, formed by the vicinity of Madura, with one good road-stead, that of Batavia; which indeed, from the depth of the bay, and the number of islands which shelter it, may almost deserve the name of a Harbour. The mildness of the seasons, and the tranquillity of the seas, the absence of typhoons, hurricanes, and storms, render this less a defect than it would prove in less favoured latitudes.

Passing from the coast to the interior of the country,' observes Sir Stamford Raffles, the stranger cannot fail to be struck with the bold outline and prominent features of its scenery. An uninterrupted series of large mountains, varying, in their elevation above the sea, from five to eleven, and even twelve thousand feet, and exhibiting, in their round base and pointed tops, their volcanic origin, extend through the whole length of the island. The several large mountains comprised in this series, and which are in number 38, though different from each other in external figure, agree in the general attribute of volcanoes, having a broad base, gradually verging towards the summit, in the form of a cone.'

They all rise from a plain, but little elevated above the level of the sca; and each must be considered as a separate mountain, raised by a cause independent of that which produced the others. Most of them have been formed at a very remote period, and are covered by the vegetation of many ages; but the indications, and remains of their former eruptions, are numerous and unequivocal. The craters of several are completely extinct; those of others still contain small apertures, which continue to discharge sulphureous vapours and smoke: and many of them have had eruptions during late years. Besides the mountains of the larger series above described, there are extensive ranges of mountains of inferior elevation, sometimes connected with the larger series, and sometimes independent of them, which are also for the most part volcanic. Numerous ridges of hills traverse the country in various directions; and the surface of the island, in general, independent of those more striking features, is in the most part undulating and uneven, except on the seacoast.

A country which abounds in mountains, is seldom deficient in rivers; accordingly, no region is perhaps better watered. Java is singularly favoured in the number of its streams. The size of the island does not admit of the formation of large rivers; but there are probably fifty, that, in the wet season, bear down rafts charged with timber, and other rough produce of the country; and not less than five or six, at all times navigable, to the distance of five or six miles

from the coast. It would be vain to attempt numbering those which are precious to the agriculturist; they are many hundreds, if not thousands.'

The following is a description drawn with equal happiness and fidelity, of this fine island.

The general aspect of Java, on the northern coast, is low; in many places swampy, and overgrown with mangrove trees and bushes, particularly towards the west. The southern coast, on the contrary, consists almost entirely of a series of rocks and cliffs, which rise perpendicularly to a considerable height. In the interior, stupendous mountains stretch longitudinally throughout the island; while others of an inferior elevation, and innumerable ranges of hills running in various directions, serve to form and confine plains and valleys of various elevation and extent. On the northern side, the ascent is in general very gradual from the seacoast to the immediate base of the mountains, particularly in the western part of the island, where it has the greatest breadth, and where the mountains are situated far inland.

Although the northern coast is in many parts flat and uninteresting, the interior and southern provinces, from the mountainous character of the country, may be reckoned amongst the most romantic, and highly diversified in the world; uniting all the rich and magnificent scenery which waving forests, never-failing streams, and constant verdure, can present; heightened by a pure atmosphere, and the glowing tints of a tropical sun.

Quitting the low coast of the north, in many parts unhealthy, the traveller can hardly advance five miles inland, without feeling a sensible improvement in the atmosphere and climate. As he proceeds, at every step he breathes a purer air, and surveys a brighter scene. At length he reaches the high lands. There the boldest forms of nature are tempered by the rural arts of man; stupendous mountains clothed with abundant harvests; impetuous cataracts tamod to the peasant's will. Here is perpetual verdure; here are tints of the brightest huc. In the hottest season the air retains its freshness; in the driest, the innumerable rills and rivulets preserve much of their water. These the mountain farmer diverts in endless conduits and canals, to irrigate the land, which he has laid in terraces for its reception; it then descends to the plains, and spreads fertility wherever it flows; till at last, by numerous outlets, it discharges itself into the sea.'

The account of the mineralogical structure of the island, is summed up by Sir Stamford Raffles as follows.

From these and all other investigations yet made, the constitution of Java appears to be exclusively volcanic. From the vast Asiatic chain of mountains, one branch of which terminates at Ceylon, proceeds another, which, traversing Arrakan, Pegu, and the Malayan peninsula, extends to Sumatra, Banka, and Biliton, where it may be aid to disappear. On Java no granite has been discovered. In its

constitution, as in its direction, it may be considered as the first of a series of volcanic islands, which extend nearly eastward from the Straits of Sunda, for about twenty-five degrees."

This mineralogical constitution, we believe, is unfavourable to metals; and no ores are anywhere found sufficiently rich to reward the cost of washing them. A small quantity of quicksilver has been found; and here and there a little gold, of fineness not exceeding 16 carats.

The seasons in Java, as we may look for, are not a summer and a winter, in our European sense of the words, but a wet and dry season. The westerly monsoon, and, with it, wet and occasionally boisterous weather, is expected from October to March; and the easterly winds and fair season fill up the rest of the year. In the lands which do not rise high above the level of the sea, Fahrenheit's thermometer in the morning is from 70° to 74°, and at noon about 83°. In the hottest times, it rarely rises to 90° any where. As the land rises, the thermometer falls from 70° to 65° and 60° at noon; and on the summit of one of the mountains, it has been observed as low as 27°. Ice as thick as a Spanish dollar has been found; and hoar frost, denominated Bohan Upas, or poisonous dew, has been observed on the trees and vegetation of some of the higher regions.' After this account of the climate, we have the following most important remark on its salubrity.

The general inference which has been drawn by professional men, from the experience which the occupation of Java by the British has afforded, is, that with the exception of the town of Batavia, and some parts of the northern coast, the island of Java stands on a level, in point of salubrity, with the healthiest parts of British India, or any tropical country in the world.'

Of the inhabitants and their manners, this is Sir Stamford Raffles's very sensible account.

The inhabitants of Java and Madura are in stature rather below the middle size, though not so short as the Bugis, and many of the other islanders. They are upon the whole well shaped, though less remarkably so than the Malays, and erect in their figures. Their limbs are slender; and the wrists and ankles particularly small. In general they allow the body to retain its natural shape. The only exceptions to this observation are, an attempt to prevent the growth, or to reduce the size of the waist, by compressing it into the narrowest limits; and the practice still more injurious to female ele. gance, of drawing too tightly that part of the dress which covers the bosom. Deformity is very rare among them. The forehead is high, the eyebrows well marked and distant from the eyes, which are some what Chinese, or rather Tartar, in the formation of the inner angle. The colour of the eye is dark; the nose small and somewhat flat, but

less so than the islanders generally. The mouth is well formed: but the lips are large, and their beauty generally injured by the practice of filing and dying the teeth black, and by the use of tobacco, fire, &c. The cheek bones are usually prominent; the beard very scanty; the hair of the head generally lank and black, but sometimes waving in curls, and partially tinged with a deep reddish brown colour. The countenance is mild, placid, and thoughtful, and easily expresses respect, gaiety, earnestuess, indifference, bashfulness, or anxiety. In complexion, the Javans, as well as the other eastern islanders, may be considered rather as a yellow, than a copper coloured or black race. Their standard of beauty in this respect is a "virgin gold colour." The women, in general, are not so good looking as the men; and, to Europeans, many of them, particularly when advanced in age, appear hideously ugly. The common people have little leisure or inclination for improving their minds, or acquiring information; but they are far from being deficient in natural sagacity or docility. Their organs are acute and delicate; their observation is ready, and their judgment of character generally correct.' - Though deficient in energy, and excited to action with difficulty, the effect probably of an enervating climate, and a still more enervating government, they are capable of great occasional exertion, and sometimes display a remarkable perseverance in surmounting obstacles, or enduring labours. No people can be more tractable; and although their external appearance indicates listlessness, and sometimes stupidity, none possess a quicker apprehension of what is clear ly stated, or attain a more rapid progress in what they have a desire to learn. The Javanese are remarkable for their unsuspecting and almost infantine credulity. Susceptible of every impression that artifice may attempt to make upon them, and liable to every delusion propagated by the prejudiced or designing, they not inaptly compare themselves to a piece of white cloth, on which any dye or shade of colour may be laid. They lend an easy credence to omens, to prognostics of prophets, and to quacks. They easily become the dupes of any religious fanatic; and credit, without scruple or examination, his claim to supernatural powers.

When not corrupted by indulgence on the one hand, or stupified by oppression on the other, the Javans appear to be a generous and warm-hearted people; in their domestic relations they are kind, affectionate, gentle, and contented. In their public, they are obedient, honest, and faithful. In their intercourse with society, they display, in a high degree, the virtues of honesty, plain-dealing, and candour. Their ingenuousness is such, that, as the first Dutch authorities have acknowledged, prisoners brought to the bar on criminal charges, if really guilty, nine times out of ten confess, without disguise or equivocation, the full extent and exact circumstances of their offences; and communicate, when required, more information on the matter at issue, than all the rest of the evidence.'' Hos VOL. XXXI. NO. 62;