Page:Life in Java Volume 1.djvu/224

206 We therefore made a hasty toilette, and spent the rest of the evening most agreeably at his house.

Before leaving this district, we may add, for the information of those Europeans resident in the East who contemplate the culture and manufacture of sugar, that the province of Probolingo is one of the best fields in Java for a practical observation of the process of sugar-making in all its branches.

The harbour of Probolingo is very exposed during some months of the year—especially January and February, when the ghendeng, a stormy wind, blows in hurricanes from the- south, and all vessels near the coast run great danger of being cast on shore. I was told by several Dutch captains, with whom I happened to converse on the subject, that there is a great want of lighthouses on this coast. They have long been promised by the Government, but never yet supplied. In the intricate and narrow straits of Bali, where the currents are strong and variable, and the rocks and shoals unprovided with