n the
mind of strangers. The party must have been the objects of ridicule
and contempt to the very peasants around them.

As they rose towards the hills, the country appeared to be in general
richer and more picturesque. From the summit of the first ridge the
country before them was gently undulating, interspersed with patches
of wood, that looked like a wide-spread park, till at some miles
distance it rose up the slopes of a volcanic mountain--the Lamongan.
On the sides of this huge volcano, the woods became thicker and more
continuous, till they reached the bare piles of ashes and cinders
forming the upper cone.

The road then lay through coffee plantations. These were very
pleasant-looking places. The coffee shrubs were planted in rows, with
tall trees between each row to shelter the coffee from the sun. The
alleys between the trees were carpeted by rich green turf, forming
pleasant glades. The plantations were generally neatly fenced and
often extensive; as much as twenty or thirty acres in one plot. Every
now and then they passed on the roadside a noble tree, with
wide-spread, drooping branches, a species of banyan tree, under which
was often seen a bullock-waggon with its team.

All this was oriental and picturesque; but the scenery sometimes
reminded them of spots in Devonshire, so green and fresh was all the
vegetation, and so pleasant were the deep narrow lanes and sparkling
brooks. Their halting-place for the day was a large and lofty
bamboo-house on a raised terrace of brick, having a broad veranda all
round, a large central saloon, and two or three good and
well-furnished bed-rooms on each side. This veranda had the advantage
also of a noble landscape. At the back, it looked down a steep bank to
a beautiful circular lake about a quarter of a mile across, bordered
by a thick belt of wood, and right over it at a few miles' distance,
the stately cone of the Lamongan, upwards of four thousand feet high,
with a wreath of white smoke curling from its summit.

To this feast of natural beauty was added the more substantial one of
the table. In the veranda they found a table spread with a snow-white
cloth, and all the conveniencies of plate, glass, and cutlery. A troop
of willing servitors was in attendance, who covered the table with a
smoking-hot breakfast, piles of rice curries, pillaus, and fruits,
with tea and coffee. All this seemed to be done by enchantment; there
was no host, no master of the house to tr