Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/594

 574 JAVA Java sea, where hurricanes are unknown, and storms occur only at the change of the mon- soons. On the S. side there is no safe anchorage, the coast being bold and the ocean very deep, while a heavy and dangerous surf rolls con- tinually on the shore. The geological forma- tion of Java is highly volcanic. A range of mountains runs from one end of the island to the other through the centre, with peaks vary- ing in height from 4,000 to 12,000 ft. The highest is Semiru, 12,235 ft. ; Slamat is 11,329 ft. ; six other peaks are each over 10,000 ft. high, six others over 9,000 ft., and ten others from 5,000 to 9,000 ft. Among these peaks are 38 volcanoes, some of which are in constant ac- tivity. The most remarkable of these is in the Tenger, " wide " or " spacious " mountains, in the E. part of the island. It rises from a very large base in a gentle slope with gradually ex- tending ridges. The summit, seen from a dis- tance, appears less conical than that of the other volcanoes, and is about 8,000 ft. high. The crater is more than 1,000 ft. below the highest point of the mountain. It is the largest crater on the globe, with perhaps the single exception of that of Kilauea in the Hawaiian islands. The shape of the crater is an irregular ellipse with a minor axis of 3J and a major axis of 4J miles, and it forms an immense gulf with a level bottom covered with sand, which the Javanese call Laut Pasar, or "sandy sea." From its centre rise three cones several hun- dred feet in height, one of which, called Brah- ma, is in almost constant activity. South of the great central range is another range of mountains from 3,000 to 8,000 ft. in height, which skirts the S. coast. It is composed of volcanic materials, chiefly basalt, and is called by the Javanese Kandang, or "war drums," from the peculiar columnar form of its rocks. The volcano Papandayang in this range threw out in a single night, in 1772, ashes and scoria? spreading over an area of 7 m. radius a layer 50 ft. thick, destroying 40 native villages and 3,000 people. On July 8, 1822, the volcano Galunggong, a few miles N. E. of Papanda- yang, destroyed everything within a radius of 20 m. Five days later a second eruption fol- lowed, and the total loss of life in both was 20,000 persons. The S. shore of the island is in many places bounded by steep piles of trap. Low ranges of limestone occur in the eastern part, and in the extreme west a few granite bowlders are occasionally found. Hot springs are numerous at the bases of the volcanoes, and some of them are impregnated with car- bonic acid. In the lowlands there are mud volcanoes, which furnish muriate of soda. The principal elevated plains of Java are those known as Solo and Kediri, which comprise the central districts, and in the west that of Bandong. These plains are fertile and well watered by streams from the mountains, which afford an abundant supply for irrigation. There is also a long alluvial tract running along the N. side of the island, which may be regarded as a continuous plain, and many of the mountain valleys are also spacious and fer- tile. There are a few small and beautiful lakes among the mountains, and some exten- sive marshes, which in the rainy season be- come lakes, and are navigated. The largest of these is in the province of Banyumas, and is close to the S. shore. The island, however, is abundantly watered. The rivers on the N. side are very numerous, but are none of them navigable for large vessels, being all more or less obstructed by bars of mud or sand at their mouths. They are, however, of great use for irrigation, and contribute largely to the im- mense agricultural capacity of the island. The largest river in Java is the Solo, which rises in one of the low ranges on the S. side of the island, and after a winding course of 356 m. empties by two mouths into the narrow strait which separates Java from the W. end of the island of Madura. This river is navigable all the year by small boats, and by large ones in all the months except August, September, and October. The second river in size is called by the natives the Brantas, but is known to Europeans as the river of Surabaya. It rises like the Solo in the low southern range of mountains, receives many affluents, and empties by five mouths into the Madura strait, after passing by the city of Surabaya and contributing to form its harbor. The seasons in Java are divided into the wet season, which begins with October and ends with March, and during which wester- ly winds prevail, and the dry, which includes the rest of the year, and is characterized by easterly winds and fair weather. These peri- odical winds, the N. W. and S. E. monsoons respectively, set in somewhat irregularly, and even during their prevalence there is some- times dry weather in the wet season and wet weather in the dry. At the equinoxes the weather is generally tempestuous, and thunder storms at that period are frequent and some- times destructive. The temperature of the island is equable, the thermometer in the low- lands seldom rising above 90 or falling below 70. Snow never falls even on the highest mountain peaks, but in the coldest weather ice a few lines thick is sometimes seen at great elevations, where the thermometer falls to 27. At the height of 4,000 ft. in the mountain valleys there is a delightful climate, healthful to the European constitution, and favorable to the growth of northern fruits and vegetables. The general climate of the island is in point of salubrity equal to that of any tropical country ; and in places where malaria formerly pre- vailedj as in Batavia and Cheribon, the evil has been clearly traced to the neglect of water- courses, and has been ameliorated by proper attention to drainage. The metals found in Java are inconsiderable in quantity and value, and no veins are worked. The uncultivated portions of the island, with the exception of a few small tracts and shore districts, are covered with forest, and at all seasons a luxuriant ver-