hing all wonder and admiration at the great pyramids of
Egypt; but since his time, it must not be forgotten, much richer
discoveries in ancient art and archaeological lore have been made in
Egypt and Palestine. Alfred Russell Wallace, Brumund, Fergusson, all
join in the chorus of praise, and the latter, in his "History of Indian
and Eastern Architecture," expresses the opinion that the Boro Budur is
the highest development of Buddhist art, an epitome of all its arts and
ritual, and the culmination of the architectural style, which,
originating at Barhut a thousand years before--that is more than
twenty-one centuries ago--had begun to decay in India at the time the
colonists were erecting this masterpiece of the ages in the heart of
Java.

[Illustration]

To reach the Boro Budur, one takes the steam tram from Djocja to
Moentilan. There a dog-cart may be hired for three guilders, and, taking
the Temple or Tjandi of Mendoet on the way, the Boro Budur may be
reached in an hour and a half from Moentilan. Miss Scidmore was able to
write with her customary enthusiasm about this road; but, truth to tell,
we found the drive far from pleasant. Until one gets within a quarter of
a mile of the ruins, the surface is bad and some of the small bridges so
dangerous that we dismounted at the driver's request. The dog-cart,
also, is far from an agreeable vehicle in which to travel, and if a
better carriage could be found we would advise its being hired.
Wherever one goes in Java, the public vehicles are in a state of decay,
far more disreputable than the gharry of Singapore, and a large number
of the ponies are decrepit and suffering from open sores. If Java is to
become a tourist country the vehicles should be better supervised.

Before setting out from Djocjakarta, the visitor should get the hotel
proprietor to communicate with the stationmaster at Moentilan, with the
object of having a more comfortable carriage than fell to our unhappy
lot through leaving the matter to haphazard.

Strictly speaking, the Boro Budur--which means the collection of
Buddas--is not a building in the sense that we speak of St. Paul's or
St. Peter's. A small hill has been cut down and the earthwork surrounded
by masonry, uncemented, unjointed, layer upon layer, and there is no
column, pillar, or true arch. It is supposed that it was built by some
of the first Buddhist settlers from India as the resting place (dagaba)
of one of the urns containing a portio