Page:Life in Java Volume 1.djvu/113

Rh converting and trading as they went, and finally waging war, acquiring dominion, and establishing Mahomedanism almost throughout the entire island. One of them, Maulana Ibrahim, died here in the year of Salivana 1334, and his tomb lies a short distance from the town.

As we approached Surabaya, the hills of Gressik gradually diminished in height, and low marshy ground succeeded the picturesque mountainous district we had just passed. The change of scenery on the coast was far from agreeable, but it was some compensation that the hills and mountains in the interior, covered here and there with patches of vegetation, gave variety and beauty to a landscape that otherwise would have been totally uninteresting.

Like Batavia and Samarang, the town, being situated above a mile inland, is not visible from the sea. A river, embanked like a canal, has to be ascended for some distance before reaching it.