this there is, I suppose, always more or less rain. _Two P.M._--I
went on deck this morning at eight, after writing, to discover why we
were stopping, and I found that a squall had closed in all around us,
and hid the land. It lasted only about an hour, when we set off again,
passing through a great many little islets all covered with trees, so
different from the barren Pulo Sapata and Pulo Condor, which we pass
on the route between Singapore and Hong-Kong! The weather is
delicious, and I am confirmed in my doctrine, that if you are
compelled to be in or in the vicinity of the Tropics, the nearer the
Line the better. You have not the interminably long summer days which
you have at more remote points, and constant showers veil the sun and
cool the air. This makes Singapore comparatively so bearable, and I
suppose Sarawak has some of the same advantages.

[Sidenote: Java.]
[Sidenote: Residence of the Governor-General.]

_Java.--February 8th. Three P.M._--Here I am looking out from my
window upon a piece of park-like scenery,--a sheet of water, drooping
trees, and deer feeding among them. The only drawback is that it is
raining, and this is not an unqualified evil, because the rain cools
the air. The place I am at is the residence of the Governor-General of
Java (or of the Indies, I believe his title is), about forty miles
from Batavia, the chief town, at which I landed yesterday, at 5 P.M.,
with much honour in the way of salutes, &c. We were conveyed in
carriages-and-six, with an escort, to the Governor's town palace,
which I was told to consider placed at my disposal. It consists
chiefly of a very spacious room on the ground-floor, paved in marble,
and looking very brilliant, lit up with wax candles in chandeliers.
Some of the high officials came to dinner, and we were waited on by
black servants in state liveries and bare feet, who moved noiselessly
over the marble floor. The original town of Batavia is unhealthy for
Europeans, so they live in villas which extend from the town for some
miles, on both sides of the main road into the interior. The villas
looked very nice, and white women seemed to abound in them. It was
hinted to me that the Governor-General would like to see me at his
residence, so I set out for this place at about seven this morning,
performing thirty-six miles in two h