llowing day.

The description of the tears of the aged Sultan of Lomboh at the
destruction of his beautiful palace, and the marvellous stories of how
jewels and millions of treasure were borne away by the victorious
General more resembled a page for the "Arabian Nights" than a record of
facts in the present day. On the other hand, accounts of the terrible
hardships endured by the brave Dutch soldiers sounded more modern, and
were only too easy of belief.

The seat of the war was only half a day from the Javanese port of
Soerabaya, and enough money had been collected in Java and Holland to
pay the cost of the entire war, and yet it was so mismanaged that
officers had only rice to eat, and nightly camped out on the ground
without shelter in that fever-giving climate.

CHAPTER IX.

BUITENZORG.

On the afternoon of the day of his arrival, a Sunday, having declined a
kind invitation to a party for the theatre, X. decided to leave for
Buitenzorg. He thought he sniffed fever mingled with the other very
apparent odours in his room on the ground floor, while Usoof and Abu not
only could not bathe but were unable to send his clothes to the wash.
The combination of reasons and of smells was strong.

It may be mentioned here, it being about as _apropos_ in this place as
it would be in any other, that all functions in Java, from a reception
of the Governor General to a performance by a travelling show, take
place on a Sunday.

The train left Batavia at 4.30 and X. reached Buitenzorg at six.

So much that is misleading has been written about Buitenzorg--the
Washington of Java, that X. was woefully deceived. It certainly is a
beautiful place--indeed exquisitely so, but a traveller is scarcely
satisfied with the beauties of nature when he pays to mankind for
creature comforts which he fails to obtain. The most agreeable feature
of the journey to a stranger who has, as it were, been long hemmed in by
dense jungles in the Peninsula, was certainly the long stretches of open
country reminding him of the pasture lands and fields which fly past the
train at home. Cattle and ponies grazing complete the illusion, and X.
could scarcely refrain from outspoken exclamations of delight.

It had been much impressed upon the traveller that he must by all means
obtain a room at the Belle Vue Hotel, and if possible, one overlooking
the back which governs the famous view. This was achieved by telegram.
On arrival a carriage with three