Page:Life in Java Volume 1.djvu/243

Rh we might be able to visit some of the adjacent places.

Our conversation was carried on in French. Without some knowledge of this language travelling in Java would be very difficult, as few Dutch gentlemen in the interior understand English, though the greater number speak French fluently. Lines for communication by means of the electric telegraph are seen throughout the island of Java, which is a great convenience, especially as the mode of travelling is still by posts, and consequently slow.

Malang is a province under the residency of Passeroewan. Until of late years both these districts were under the supervision of the Resident of Surabaya; but the increase of population, the extension of trade, and other circumstances, decided the Government in detaching them, and forming Passeroewan and Malang into a distinct residency. VOL. I.