The Journey From Djokjakarta To Soerabaia Consumes About Half A Day And The Trip Is Pleasanter Than That Of The

Previous day, when the rolling of the fast express on a narrow-gauge track was rather trying, while at dinner-

Time the soup and water were thrown about in an annoying manner. I have no doubt that this defect will soon be remedied, for Java is still what a very distinguished English visitor said sixty years ago: "the very garden of the East and perhaps upon the whole the richest, best cultivated, and best governed tropical island in the world." Soerabaia is the great shipping port for sugar, tobacco, etc., and a more important commercial centre than Batavia. The day after my arrival I started for Borneo where I intended to proceed to the Kayan or Bulungan River in the Northeast. It was my purpose to take advantage of the occasion to acquaint myself with that district and its natives which would extend my travels by a few months.

CHAPTER II

BORNEO - CLIMATIC AND BIOLOGICAL CONDITIONS - NATURAL RESOURCES - POPULATION - HISTORY - GOVERNMENT OF THE NATIVES - RACIAL PROBLEMS

Leaving Greenland out of consideration, Borneo is the second largest island on the globe, the greater part of it, southern and eastern, belonging to Holland. In a recent geological period this island as well as Java and Sumatra formed part of Asia. A glance at the map shows that Borneo is drained by rivers which originate in the central region near each other, the greater by far being in Dutch territory, some of them navigable to large steam launches for 500 or 600 kilometres. The principal chain of mountains runs, roughly speaking, from northeast to southwest, the average height being perhaps 1,000-1,500 metres, with higher peaks now and then. There are also ranges from east and west. The remainder is irregular hilly country, with low swampy coasts. The highest mountain is Kinabalu, in the north, about 4,500 metres above the sea and composed of "porphyritic granite and igneous rocks." There are no active volcanoes. The whole island is covered with forest vegetation from the coasts to the tops of the hills and ranges.

The climate is humid and warm and remarkably even, the thermometer in the inland rarely reaching above 85 F. in the shade. Rain is copious most of the year; at night it sometimes rains continuously; but a day of uninterrupted downpour did not occur during my two years of travel. It comes in showers, usually lasting an hour or two, when it clears as suddenly as it began, and within half an hour all is dry again. In the interior, on account of the vast jungles, except in case of thunderstorms, which are rare, there is no wind, but on the coasts one may encounter storms in the time of both the northeast and the southwest monsoons. Though Borneo and the central mountains of New Guinea have the greatest rainfall in the Malay Archipelago, there is a distinct dry season, which is mostly felt during April, May, and June, but is less noticeable in the central parts.

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