Page:Life in Java Volume 1.djvu/244

226 The valley of Malang is said to be fifteen hundred feet above the level of the sea. The air consequently is not so hot as in the lower lands. The cultivation of coffee is carried on to a great extent in it; also tobacco, cocoa, rice, as well as European grain, which grows well on the slopes of the neighbouring hills and mountains. The temperature averages generally from fifty to sixty degrees in the morning, and seventy-five to eighty degrees in the middle of the day. It is a lovely country, and though thickly populated, so healthy that it is considered quite a sanatorium, and hospitals have been built in it by Government for their invalid soldiers and civilians.

In whatever direction you drive from the town of Malang, you will soon find yourself in face of mountains—as the Smeroe and Tengerr to the west, and the Ardjuno, Kewi, and Kresi, to the east, besides many minor hills, which cannot fail to please the eye by their variety. The valley is