The History of Java, v. 1-2Raffles, Thomas Stamford, Sir
History
The History of Java, v. 1-2
Raffles, Thomas Stamford, Sir
Java (Indonesia) -- History
Among the most extensively useful productions ought not to be forgotten
the _bámbu_, or _príng_, which abounds on Java, and seems, from the
greater luxuriance and variety by which it is here distinguished, to
find the soil and climate more congenial to its growth than those of
any other country. It blossoms in different parts of the island. The
rattans (_rótan_) of Java are on the whole inferior to those of Sumatra
and Borneo: the improved state of cultivation is unfavourable to their
growth and propagation.
Many woods afford excellent fuel. The charcoal prepared from the
_kusámbi_ is equal perhaps to that of any other wood with which we are
acquainted, and is universally preferred in cooking, and in the other
branches of domestic economy. Charcoal, for gunpowder, is uniformly
prepared from the celtis orientalis, called _áng'grung_.
Among the useful trees must be noticed: the soap-tree, of which the
fruit is used to a very great extent in washing linen:--the _kasémak_,
from the bark of which is made a varnish for umbrellas:--the _sámpang_,
from the resin of which the natives prepare a shining varnish for the
wooden sheaths of krîses:--the cotton-tree, from which a silky wool is
obtained for stuffing pillows and beds:--the wax-tree, which, though
scarce on Java, grows abundantly on some parts of Madúra: (the kernel,
by expression, produces an oil, which some time after becomes hard
and bears a resemblance to wax; it may be burnt in lamps or converted
into candles, and affords an agreeable odour): the _bendúd_, a shrub
producing the substance of which the elastic gum, commonly called
Indian-rubber, is prepared. The art of preparing it in this form is
however unknown in Java. Torches are made of it, for the use of those
who search for birds' nests in the rocks, and it serves for winding
round the stick employed to strike musical instruments, as the _gong_,
&c. to soften the sound. The _mínyak káwon_ or _niátu_ is a very
useful tree, which grows solitary in all, and abundantly in some parts
of the island, and produces a kind of tallow.
_Dámar_, or resin, is distinguished by the inhabitants of these
countries into two kinds: _dámar-bátu_ or _séla_, and _dámar-puti_,
comprising numerous varieties obtained from different trees. None of
these are, however, produced on Java. Besides the _rásamála_, which is
very limited as to its place of growth, the _Canáram_, and a peculiar
resin employed by the natives for varnishing the wooden sheaths of
their krîses, called _sámpang_, few odoriferous resins are found. The
camphor-tree, which abounds on Sumatra and Borneo, is unknown on Java.
The wood oil, distinguished among the Malays by the name of _krúwing_
(which in Java is applied to all resinous or oily substances employed
in the construction of vessels), is not a native of Java, but it grows
abundantly on Banka and Sumatra.
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