Page:Life in Java Volume 1.djvu/10

viii Other writers—though very few and far between—have written upon Java, but the impression left upon my mind by such of their productions as I have perused, has been far from satisfactory. Without wishing to detract from their merits, I am compelled to acknowledge that they failed in communicating to me any adequate idea either of the appearance of the island or of the life of its inhabitants. The work I now offer to the public will, I trust, be found to contain a faithful account of this valuable possession of the Crown of Holland.

Through the kindness and attention of my friends and acquaintances in Java—for which I beg, with deep gratitude, to offer my sincere thanks —I enjoyed many opportunities of witnessing the most remarkable physical phenomena of the island, and was introduced to scenes of public and domestic life in which I became familiar with the manners and customs of the peculiar people inhabiting it. Adopting a simile suggested by the illustration on the cover, I may venture to express a hope that