Schlagwort-Archiv: April

At Sea to Port Kennedy, 30 April 1893

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Still during the night, during the dog watch, the ship passed between the Paternoster islands and the bank Maria Reigersbergen Medang. In the morning the island of Sumbawa with its 2756 m high volcano Tambora became visible. The island is under the command of the governor of Celebes. For all these relatively small islands their characteristic mountains rise steeply directly out of the sea and reach important heights. As could be distinguished through the looking glass they too have a rich tropical vegetation that is interrupted sometimes by less obstructing patches of what seem to be grass.

Towards noon we also saw the island of Sangeang which actually only consists of the volcano Goenoeng Api, a cone-shaped mountain 1884 m high whose latest strong eruption happened in the year 1820. Later the island of Flores appeared. Its western part is under the command of the governor of Celebes, while the remaining island is part of the residency of Timor islands to the east of Sumba — and now we were in the sea of Flores.

For the first time I observed multiple frigate birds (Tachypetes aquilus) that flew around our ship. I also shot a few times but the distance was too large to have reached my target.

Due to the many rain storms that poured down, church service took place today in the battery. Finally the sky cleared up and the weather remained constant until the evening so that we could for once again enjoy a gorgeous sunset with its beautiful intensive colors that are uniquely reserved to the tropical regions. Thus the sky was brilliant in most varied colors from the mst subtle pink to the darkest purple and this whole colorful splendor was mirrored in the calm sea as if it had been doused in fire.

Links

  • Location: At Sea ear Flores
  • ANNO – on 30.04.1893 in Austria’s newspapers. The German Emperor visited Pompeii albeit completely in the mist.
  • The k.u.k. Hof-Burgtheater is playing the tragedy „Die neue Zeit“, while the k.u.k. Hof-Operntheater is performing Mozart’s opera “Die Zauberflöte”.

At Sea to Port Kennedy, 29 April 1893

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During the night, around 1 o’clock, a heavy storm’s intensive thunders awakened all sleepers. As the rain driven by the fresh wind was entering into the cabins through the hatches, the command rang out „Close the hatches!“. In the early morning, a blue sky was smiling down on us — an hour later, rain poured down out of the sea of clouds. The sea always remained calm during these changing weather conditions.

At noon we were in the Strait of Sapudi between Madura and Sapudi island. In the distance, one can see the volcano Baloeran of 1290 m on the East coast of Java, situated in the  district Panarukan in the regency Besuki. We sent our last greeting to Java to this fire mountain as we now directed our course towards Lombok island.

During the voyage in the high sea many snakes were visible. For the first time I too saw „sea snakes“, namely a totally white specimen more than a meter long, as well as one in black and yellow stripes.

The sight towards Lombok and the island to the west of it, Bali, both part of the Timor group, was unfortunately obscured by fog and clouds. But then Bali and Agoeng mountain (3200 m) at least appeared if only for a moment. In the evening a gorgeous moon shine finally delighted us again so that the sight was very impressive when we came close to the island of Lombok. Yulcan Rindjani, which attains the considerable altitude of 3800 m, rises almost vertically out of the sea and grants a monumental view. At first its peak was obscured by thick clouds but then this veil parted suddenly and the mountain giant was in front of us, illuminated by the silver moon shine. As we were only a few miles distant from the coast, we could exactly see the contours of the mountain with the naked „unarmed“ eye.

The islands of Bali and Lombok form their own independent residency. The pacification of Lombok requires a lot of money and troops for the Dutch as this rough partly Brahminist partly Mohammedan population under the leadership of the raja, a Balinese, is offering tough resistance. The doggedness of the resistance is attested by the report shortly prior to our departure from Java that an engagement on Lombok a few days earlier had resulted in the death of one officer and a number of soldiers of the colonial forces, while on one of the cannon boats that participated in that action one of the naval officers was grievously wounded.

Links

  • Location: near Lombok
  • ANNO – on 29.04.1893 in Austria’s newspapers. Busy preparations are under way in Lucerne, Switzerland, for the upcoming visit of the German Emperor on his return from Italy.
  • The k.u.k. Hof-Burgtheater is playing the comedy „Das Heiratsnest“, while the k.u.k. Hof-Operntheater is performing the ballet “Die goldene Märchenwelt”.

At Sea to Port Kennedy, 28 April 1893

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The usual life on board has returned.  A journey of sixteen days to Sydney is in store for us. We start to fill the long leisure time in devoting our attention to the packaging and storage of the objects collected on the land expedition and completing the neglected diary entries.  Hunters and servants are busy in repairing all the damage the constant rain has caused to our rifles and hunting equipment.

The rainy season that this year lasts for an abnormally long time in these latitudes is highly sensible. Often the bright sky becomes cloudy within minutes and stormy winds with tropical rains brush across the ship.

At 2 o’clock in the night we passed the Boompjes islands; at noon we had the Karimon Djawa islands on backboard and on starbord the very hilly coast of Java with Cap Mandelika.

During the day we saw some Dutch sailing ships that were probably going towards Tandjong Priok and very small fishing boats that venture out far into the sea as the sea is very calm. During the night they make navigation difficult as they set no lights. Therefore one risks running over one of these boats that one becomes aware of only in the last instant.

The young boar caught during the boar hunt in Garut marks its presence by loud cries and a young wildcat bought on Java proves to be very ill-natured. Unfortunately, due to the humid and inconstant weather, many of the parrots are dying.  In contrast the two monkeys  „Fips“ and „Mucki“, housed on the afterdeck, are in good mood and serenely jump around. Namely during dinner, they are very cute and do much mischief.

From the bridge I observed large schools of fish at multiple times during the day — a species of mackerel that was jumping incessantly out of the water, probably because it had been in the process of spawning. Flocks of sea gulls were accompanying the flying fishes. Often I noticed flying fishes, two of which we captured when they jumped into the battery.

Links

  • Location: north of Java
  • ANNO – on 28.04.1893 in Austria’s newspapers. Empress Elisabeth will spend the next two weeks in Lainz, while the Emperor will visit Budapest on 2 May.
  • The k.u.k. Hof-Burgtheater is playing „Kriemhilde“ for its subscribers, while the k.u.k. Hof-Operntheater is performing Beethoven’s opera “Fidelio”.
Wiener Salonblatt Nr.. 18, p. 4 reports the departure of Franz Ferdinand and Leopold Ferdinand from Java to Australia

Wiener Salonblatt Nr.. 18, p. 4 reports the departure of Franz Ferdinand and Leopold Ferdinand from Java to Australia

 

Buitenzorg to Batavia to Tandjong Priok, 27 April 1893

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I used the time left in Buitenzorg to see two objects: one a peaceful creation, the botanical garden, the other a military institution, the barracks.

The world famous botanical garden (’s lands plantentuin), that was created in 1818 under governor general Baron van der Capellen by a German, agricultural director professor Reinwardt, is dedicated to the cultivation of plants for scientific and educational purposes and of course only contains plants that grow in the tropical climate of Buitenzorg. To cultivate plants from cooler zones, they have built a number of botanical higher altitude stations on various levels of the Gede mountains at whose foot Buitenzorg lies as well as on the top of Pangrango. Under the direction of Buitenzorg’s botanical garden those plants are raised there that require an altitude of more than 985 m and up to 2700 m.

This garden contains about 60 ha and gives way in the north to the park of the governor general’s palace. At first sight the park distinguishes itself by its beautiful location. To the south rise the grandiose peaks of the „blue mountains“, that is the extinct volcanoes Salak and Pangrango. The saddle connecting those two peaks descends in undulating terrain to Buitenzorg. The palace garden itself is lightly terraced and borders in the east on Tji Liwung. It is ornamented with beautiful deciduous trees, palm tree alleys, bamboo bushes, green meadows and water pools.

In total there are about 9300 plant species cultivated here (300 families, 2500 genera). I had heard much talk about this garden and had been made aware of its splendor by many so that I entered it with expectations which however were not completely fulfilled. From a scientific point of view this garden with its specialized library and agricultural museum is without doubt of extraordinary high value. Every year scientists out of Europe come to Buitenzorg to do studies and research. The desire, however, to assemble a huge number of the most diverse plants of the tropical regions of all parts of the world and especially of the Malaysian zone in a very limited space necessitates that much is all too close together and much is not free to fully develop, while others do not find the conditions that the soil and climate in their natural habitat or in a fully acclimated place provides.

The layout of the garden is highly scientific so that the expert can orient himself immediately. In one part of the garden, one finds only palm trees of various species, in another part only oaks or conifers. Therefore each part has a certain monotony in forms. This arrangement, however, is very convenient for observation. The amateur prefers to look for the beautiful and the original in such institutions or picturesque groupings, luxurious or curious solitary trees, attractive or strange. He follows, in short, either the path of aesthetics or the avenue of curiosity. Thus the non-professional visitor will miss the distribution and mixture of plants with which a sensitive artful gardener knows to create spectacular groupings out of the flora. All in all the botanical garden of Buitenzorg is a practical compendium of botany according to the requirements of hard science that provides a regular view which could benefit from greater beauty in its space, all the more so as the frame of this fixed picture is created by nature in all its luxury and attraction.

Given the goal of this institution I hasten to add that the garden is maintained step by step with admirable industry and tireless care and contains beautiful rare specimen, single and in groups, of interesting plant families and species. Among others, these were especially remarkable: an alley out of huge Canarium trees (Canarium altissimum) in which each trunk is covered by a different species of orchid. In the various water pools in which the garden holds splendid specimens of Nymphaeaceae, such as the South American Victoria regia, Nymphaea lotus,  Nymphaea pubescens (in Javanese: Taratte ketjil), Nymphaea stellata (Taratte biru); specimens of Nelumbium speciosum (Taratte gede) etc.

The visit of the barracks gave me the desired opportunity to inform myself about the actual composition of the land and sea armed forces of Dutch East India.

The Dutch East-Indian army currently is 33.339 men strong with1360 officers, among them 26.536 men (697 officers) of infantry; 3120 men (83 officers) of artillery; 832 men (29 officers) cavalry; 646 men (12 officers) of engineers and 2205 men (539 officers) of other troops such as staff etc. This army is recruited entirely from Europe, especially the German Empire as well as the colonies. Among the soldiers are 13.847 Europeans, 19.437 natives, 55 Africans.

The commander of the East Indian army is Lieutenant General A. R. W. Gey van Pittius, who succeeded in this function Lieutenant General T. J. A. van Zyll de Jong on 4 April 1893.

The Indian fleet is divided into the navy which in turn is divided into the Indian navy and the auxiliary squadron and the governmental fleet. The navy counts 25 ships — among them 2 sailing ships — with 5273 net tons displacement, 14.913,5 indexed horse power, 87 guns and a nominal crew of 1340 Europeans and 643 natives. The navy also has 2 guard ships with 10 guns, with a crew of 557 Europeans and 313 natives. The auxiliary squadron contains 4 ships with 4040 net tons displacement, 11.932 indexed horse power, 58 guns and a nominal crew of 832 Europeans and 282 natives. The total number of crews thus is 2729 Europeans (281 officers), among them 519 men (50 officers) marine infantry, and 1238 natives. The governmental fleet consists of 17 sea steamboats, 5 river steamboats and 10 small sailing boats (Avisos). The steamboats have 111 guns and 1100 indexed horse power, as well as a crew of 132 Europeans and 636 natives. The Avisos are manned by 11 natives each and armed with 2 guns.

In command of the fleet is currently Vice admiral Jonkheer J. A. Roell. Commander-in-chief of the army and navy of Dutch East-India is the governor general.

Besides the regular army Dutch East India has a number of semi-military forces that are required in peacetime to uphold the public order and in wartime to assist the army. All these forces combined are 8228 men strong and divide themselves as follows: In the civil guard (Schutterijen) 3790 men (130 officers), which are organized in the larger cities under the command of the resident and are to contain the majority of the local Europeans and Indo-Europeans. Furthermore the police corps called Pradjoerits, which are constituted by 2073 natives in 56 detachments under the command of European NCOs and are stationed in smaller towns. Then there are auxiliary forces of Madura island, called Barisans, composed out of 1356 natives under 38 native officers and are divided into three detachments under a lieutenant colonel or major each. Each of these detachments has a captain of the army assigned for the supervision of the exercises. Among the irregular forces are the guard dragoons recruited among the Europeans and each 96 men strong (2 officers ) of the Soesoehoenan, Emperor of Surakarta and the Sultan of Djokjakarta, as well as the legion of the Emperor of Surakarta, 817 natives strong. The legion of Prince Pakoe Alam, the crown prince of Djokjakarta, was dissolved in August 1892.

The barracks at Buitenzorg, situated on the road to Tjiloewar, has enough space for an infantry battalion but without officers which are housed in the villa quarter behind the station. According to the new system the barracks is divided into pavilions in which are crew quarters and NCO quarters, the school, the kitchen, storerooms, fencing and exercise halls and mess rooms. At the entrance to the camp I was received by the battalion commander and led me through the different rooms. The companies were on the exercise square and only the charges of the day were in the barracks. First we visited the guard and arrest rooms. Then the commander led me into the crew quarters where the Europeans and the natives separated by company live. These are only different in the way that Europeans sleep on iron beds while the natives sleep on high wooden beds. In all these very large rooms there was a scrupulous cleanliness and order.

What I found strange was the large amount of iron used in the buildings under the tropical sky: All the rooms were covered by  corrugated iron and thick iron walls were installed between twenty beds each on which the people hung their possessions. In my view bamboo would serve the same purpose as iron which naturally will increase the heat in the interior of these buildings.

Also I think the uniform is not practical — the heavy blue cloth and the small cloth helmet which does not after all protect the head or especially the neck. The soldiers are very well equipped with shoes. Every man receives three new pairs annually. Nevertheless, the native companies almost always walk barefoot.

As a weapon they use Berdan rifles. Our Mannlicher ones, however, are currently tested; as  a sideweapon, a middle thing out of a bayonet and an angled blade is used. This knife is especially suitable to cut down the branches, lianas and especially bamboo in the jungle. The rear part of the knife carried by the NCOs has a saw.

Very large and beautiful are the rooms of the NCOs as well as the chancelleries. The NCOs also have a mess room and some kind of casino which is comparable to many European officers‘ mess rooms. In the mess room whose walls are decorated with numerous images and military emblems beautiful crockery and cutlery are used, while in the casino there are all kinds of games for recreation and a buffet for the refreshment of the visitors. A special  canteen manager offers beverages. The medical officers make sure that the consumption of „sterken drank“ (alcohol) remains within suitable limits for the climate of Java. The consumption of alcohol is not only bad in itself but it also especially hurts the process of acclimatisation that Europeans undergo during a longer stay on the island.

The men of the European companies have a similar recreation hall as the NCOs.

A very strange introduction is that all soldiers, Europeans and natives, are allowed to have women in the barracks who serve them as laundress, seamstress and food vendors. Also on campaign as in the time of the German Landsknechte in the 15th and 16th century the whole baggage train including the women follows the army. The women then are all assembled in real companies which are led by the women of the NCOs while one officer, like the „Weibel“ of the Landsknechte, is tasked with the supervision of the whole Amazon corps. In the morning, while the men are outside the barracks, all these women are assembled in a large room where they perform all their domestic duties and also provide the meals for their numerous offspring. Here the atmosphere is often very vivid and it must not be easy to contain the temperament of the large number of women of minor quality maintained by the government. I visited the above mentioned room in which there were around a hundred women and which was in a terrible state of disorder. The women of the natives have to sleep in the night on pallets on the naked ground. The children are partially cared for the government as most returning European soldiers simply leave their families behind after they have completed their service and these families would otherwise be left in misery.

During the visit to the kitchen I was surprised by the rich meals for the men in comparison to what is given to our soldiers. In the morning each man receives coffee, as well as eggs and butter and ham. At 11 o’clock soup, a very large portion of meat and a large ration of vegetable. At 4 o’clock again meat and rice.

Now I was led to the exercise hall, the school hall, the workshops and storerooms. The latter ones are in contrast to ours only very poorly equipped and contain only a very small amount of supplies as most deliveries are immediately issued out to the troops and the necessary resupply is undertaken from the main supply point in Batavia.

Even though the Dutch government and namely the war department had been busy during the last years to improve the military installations and take care in all aspects of the army, still much remains to be done as among others is shown by the failure in the war with Aceh on Sumatra. What circumstances in this war of almost endless duration have played a role against the Dutch and whether this can be taken as an indicator that the military genius of the Dutch people is not as developed as its talent for colonial management and its highly developed commercial skills is probably difficult to decide.

That the Dutch know to enhance their military occupation of East India by a reasonable colonial policy is beyond doubt. The government of the colonies makes an excellent impression. Everywhere there is wealth, and both the Europeans and the natives display satisfaction with the government to a much greater degree that is the case in other colonial empires.

Regarding the human aspect, the Dutch on Java seemed to me hospitable and homey people whom I will best remember by their open and heartfelt courtesy as well as the fact that they do not overrate their own facilities and qualities — a virtue one does not find everywhere.

At the station of Buitenzorg I said good-bye to the governor general and all other Dutch gentlemen to return to Batavia where I was invited by our consul Fock to a breakfast. Mrs. Fock, an impressive presence, gave the honors in a very kind way in the very neatly furnished house.

So many things in the dining room reminded us joyously and cozily of home. There stood the images of His Majesties the Emperor and the Empress. The table was draped with flowers and bands in our colors. Even the menus had photographies with views from the beloved mountain land of Austria and beautiful Vienna.

A special train took us to Tandjong Priok where I embarked again on board of „Elisabeth“. The merchant ships in the harbor presented their flag gala during my arrival at the harbor.

The gentlemen of my Dutch entourage visited the „Elisabeth“ in detail, its artillery  and other modern equipment was of special vivid interest to Colonel De Moulin. He had, amongst others, all the guns demonstrated in the utmost details.

Finally we said a very heartfelt good-bye to the gentlemen of my Dutch entourage. The anchors were hoisted and amidst the sound of the Dutch anthem we left beautiful Java in the direction of Australia.

Links

  • Location: Tandjong Priok, Jakarta, Indonesia
  • ANNO – on 27.04.1893 in Austria’s newspapers.
  • The k.u.k. Hof-Burgtheater is playing „Der Erbförster“, while the k.u.k. Hof-Operntheater is performing the opera „Der Barbier von Sevilla“.

Tanggeng to Buitenzorg, 26 April 1893

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At 1 o’clock in the  night the rain finally relented a bit. A short time after the joyful message arrived that it would be possible after all to cross the river as it had rained not as much up in the mountains and the water was falling fast. This message was naturally received with great pleasure. At half past 3 o’clock in the morning we were already ready to mount but as the natives did not seem to be early risers  it took some time until our night caravan started moving. As the horses needed first to be saddled, the drivers awoken and finally lanterns and torches were missing without which it would be impossible to move in the pitch-black night. Energetic sometimes not very courteous words helped to assemble the drowsy people in the place and some time after 4 o’clock in the morning we were riding one after another out of Tanggeng with a torch bearer spaced between every fourth or fifth rider. The expression of torch bearer is somewhat euphemistic as the torches were but burning kindling — naturally once again made out of bamboo!

The heavily swollen Tji Buni was crossed over a bridge; then it went up into the mountains where we often had to dismount as the horses had trouble moving over the smooth steep trails while they were burdened by riders. Thus we advanced reasonably and when we came to the ford at the next river whose crossing was said to be especially dangerous, it was already dawning so that we noticed with real joy how much the water level had fallen in the mean time. The crossing thus did not prove especially difficult. The horses still sunk down deep into the water but reached without troubles the other shore. As quickly as the mountain streams on Java rise into torrents, as quickly the water drains off,  so that the river soon took his usual course. The next and last ford was strangely a bit lower than the first time we crossed it.

After we had successfully crossed a number of rivers  namely Tji Buni, Tji Lumut and Tji Djampang, our mood improved greatly as the most beautiful part of the ride now lay in front of us, namely the route of Tji Djampang to the plantations in Sukanagara.

While climbing a ridge I discovered on a tall tree covered with all kinds of climbing plants multiple monkeys of which I bagged one specimen.This one had a rare, very beautiful long-haired grey coat similar to that of a silky pinscher, a black face and black extremities. After I had handed over the bagged monkey to a coolie and had ridden on some distance I heard again on a tall tree the voices of monkeys and saw a group of the large black Budengs that were sitting quietly in the branches. In spite of the height at which the animals were, I shot and bagged with four shots one of the monkeys, an especially large male that seemed to be the leader of the tribe. The monkey had just crushed down with a heavy fall from a branch, when the whole group started to move vividly. The monkeys jumped wildly around in the branches and rushed from tree to tree. Partly they used lianas that connected the different trees as bridges partly they jumped the wide distances to the next tree, holding on to its trunk only to rush on in an instant. Having lost their leader, the monkeys did not seem to know where to flee and jumped around without a plan so that I succeeded in bagging another six beautiful specimens.

In Sukanagara we were hospitably received again for a short time by Mr. Vlooten. Not yet 3 o’clock in the afternoon, we happily arrived at Tjibeber station. Our horses had performed admirably as we could not spare them in order to arrive on time and thus were required to continuously drive them on the long bad route.

That part of the baggage that had already reached its destination was quickly loaded onto the wagons. The rest of the baggage had not reached Tjibeber and was to be sent after us the next day. At the set hour our train whisked us away to Buitenzorg.

Midway in the route, Mr Kerkhoven, Baron van Heeckeren and Mr. Borrel left the train to return to their plantations. The three gentlemen had been very pleasant hunting companions during the whole expedition thanks to their natural and jovial character. I had learned to esteem them greatly and thus saying good-bye was very heartfelt.

In Buitenzorg whose main street was still populated by many pedestrians I entered the palace of the governor general where we dined talking about the expedition to the camp about Tjipandak.

Links

  • Location: Buitezorg (Bogor), Indonesia
  • ANNO – on 26.04.1893 in Austria’s newspapers.
  • The k.u.k. Hof-Burgtheater is playing „Die Zauberin am Stein“, while the k.u.k. Hof-Operntheater is performing the opera „Die Rantzau“.

Sindangbarang to Tanggeng, 25 April 1893

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In tolerable weather we started as usual from Sindangbarang. The routes to Tanggeng, much ruined by the continuing rain, still made it very difficult for our horses. Part of the route — the steep descent down the last ridge — we had to complete on foot as the horses managed to climb down only without load.

The arduous ride was more than compensated by the joys of seeing the splendid landscape again. At the border of the districts of Tjidamar and Djampang wetan we said affectionately good-bye to the chief of the former district; the territory of this dignitary did not offer us much in hunting terms at Tjipandak but he himself had been very courteous and had performed admirably namely in the organization of the hunt.

During our entrance on horses in Tanggeng the sky changed menacingly and soon opened up all sluices; the rain poured down more heavily than we had up to now seen. The flood fell upon the earth no longer in drops but in thick jets, in a moment everything was under water. Around our house a deep lake formed itself. The streams and rivers rose mightily in a short time.

When the storm began the coolies who had been sent ahead with the baggage had already marched beyond Tanggeng and we lamented that probably all our objects, all rifles and catridges would become completely wet. Furthermore Mr. Kerkhoven voiced concerns that the carriers would be unable to wade through the two rivers as the crossing had already proved difficult on our ride to the coast. In fact part of the coolies returned in the evening — the rain still had not diminished in intensity— with completely wet baggage to Tanggeng; the carriers explained that the first river to be crossed had risen so much that it was impossible to cross it. The other part of the coolies that had set out earlier had still managed to cross this river.

Now it was hard to know what to do; as under such circumstances we couldn’t cross the river on horses either. A longer stay in Tanggeng, however, would disrupt the whole planning of the journey, as the next day a special train would be waiting at Tjibeber station and a dinner with the governor general was planned as well as „Elisabeth“ was to be ready to depart under steam in the harbor of Tandjong Priok. But we could not inform anyone of them, neither the railway director, nor the governor nor the ship captain as we were cut off from Tjibeber and thus from Buitenzorg and Batavia. As the railway lines on Java close down for the night at the approach of darkness — there are no night trains here — the third hour in the afternoon would be the latest time of departure for the special train out of Tjibeber. In order to arrive at that time in Tjibeber we would have to ride 47 km on horseback from Tanggeng to the station just mentioned and be ready to depart from Tanggeng at 3 o’clock in the morning which currently seemed impossible.

Thus we sat on the veranda of our inn in a very depressed mood during the whole evening and constantly observed the weather with the same result every time as it was continuously raining heavily and the roaring of the river close by was increasing more and more.

Our mood became worse when Mr. Kerkhoven told uus that the baggage would not reach the train station in time even if we managed to reach Tjibeber on horses the next day. Finally we had seen enough of the weather and went to sleep.

Links

  • Location: Tanggeng, Indonesia
  • ANNO – on 25.04.1893 in Austria’s newspapers.
  • The k.u.k. Hof-Burgtheater is playing „Rosenkranz und Güldenstern“, while the k.u.k. Hof-Operntheater is performing the opera „Der Prophet“.

Tjipandak to Sindangbarang, 24 April 1893

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Already at 5 o’clock in the morning our rest was interrupted by the coolies who started early to move the baggage to the next way station at Sindangbarang. Later we left the beautiful hunting camp at Tjipandak that had grown on us and followed the train on horses on the same route that we had taken to the camp. At first we thought about hunting some peacocks during the ride but had to drop this project and rode without halt to Sindangbarang where we arrived toward noon.

Some of the horses had been injured during the arduous rides of the last few days and had to be led by the reins in the caravan.

As long as the route led along the sea cost, the temperature was still tolerable thanks to the strong breaking waves. The more we withdrew from the coast the more severe became the heat. The atmosphere was filled with muggy weather that was released in a heavy storm in the afternoon. Our activities in Sindangbarang were not particularly notable; as we slept the whole afternoon while the evening hours were spent preparing the mail.

Links

Tjipandak, 23. April 1893

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As it had stopped raining — apparently honoring the fact that it was our final day in Tjipandak, I left the camp at the earliest time in the morning, despite the till ominous outlook at dawn, to hunt for peacocks on the way to the Banteng hunt. I did not see any peacocks though and just shot a Javanese jungle cock. It proved to be fatal that on this hunt I had to restrict myself to gestures with my Malay guide which was unsuccessful. Again and again, while he showed me his respect in the local manner by crouching and raising his hands in the air, he led me incessantly in circles and scared off all game with his gesturing.

Reunited with the gentlemen of my entourage we rode a new route that was in no way less difficult and had as many bad passages as those of the earlier hunting days. We were only spared having to wade through the river. The route went up and down the hills until it was finally declared that we had arrived at the hunting position where we noticed that it was the same one where Mr. Borrel had killed a Bateng three days before. This time, however, the drive would come from the opposite direction, probably to deceive us with this little stratagem. So I did have little hope to be successful right from the beginning.

As the sun was burning intensively, I had a screen built out of palm leaves behind which I sat down with my whole arsenal of guns and talked with Hodek. The hunt covering actually only a small area still lasted for a full three hours, which led me to the presumption that the drivers too had spent some time in the „shadow of a cool thinking space“. Towards noon, heavy rain fell and we were completely wet within minutes.

After a long wait the hunters and drivers finally snook up individually and tol about fresh tracks but could not offer more precise descriptions. The expedition thus was totally without result in terms of big game and especially Bantengs. The local hunters are used to hunt much later than the current season precisely as a successful catch is unlikely at present. Finally Mr. Kerkhoven told us that in this hunting ground many signs of game had been identified such as huts, tracks etc.

Despite the hunt’s failure — our actual goal — I will never regret this expedition; as I have gained an understanding in the culture of this still undeveloped region of Java, enjoyed myself seeing the splendors of the tropical jungle and spent a few agreeable days in our cozy hut camp at the shore of the beautiful Tji Pandak.

In the evening Hodek took some photographic images. Then we hunted until the approach of darkness and bagged a few specimens for the ornithological collection. Unfortunately, there were two cases of illness. Wurmbrand suffered from the effects of a heavy cold so that he could not participate in the hunt today, while again one of our crew was struck by heavy fever.

Links

  • Location: Tji Pandak, Indonesia
  • ANNO – on 23.04.1893 in Austria’s newspapers.
  • The k.u.k. Hof-Burgtheater is playing „Der Traum, ein Leben“, while the k.u.k. Hof-Operntheater is performing the opera „Don Juan“.

Tjipandak, 22 April 1893

Hinterlasse eine Antwort

Rain, nothing but rain. Already during the whole night the heavy drops of rain hit the palm roofs of our huts and it trickled through now and then, so that the already wet possessions were completely soaked. Black clouds were hanging low in the sky as if the sky had opened up all sluices. As soon as the rain relented a little bit, a new downpour followed with an intensity unknown at home. In such conditions it was impossible to think about hunting, as the river was so swollen that it seemed impossible to cross it. The drivers and the hunters too could not have been motivated to move and enter into the thicket. Thus we had to be patient and spent the day with weather observations that however provided only very regrettable results.

As it happens in such cases we spent the time in eating in short intervals and complained extensively about the weather and the vexed rainy season. The water in the river rose so much and, by the way, the push back of the sea was noticeable in the waves of the river too, that we feared about our bathing hut and had to protect it.

As expected the harsher consequences of the bad weather did manifest themselves. One of our servants was struck by a heavy fever due to the constant wetness in which we are living and it its expected that we will see more sick cases.

Only after 5 o’clock in the evening the rain started to diminish a bit, so that we decided despite the great humidity to undertake a small hunting tour in the vicinity of the camp. I climbed a hill above the huts where palm groves extended between Alang grass areas. I bagged multiple doves, among them especially fruit doves. In the distance I also saw two monkeys and a beautiful but unfortunately very timid Javanese peacock sitting on a barren palm tree. The attempt to get closer failed as the thicket that separated me from it proved completely impenetrable. In fact sneaking up on game is nearly impossible here due to the noise involuntarily caused by any movement. I did not manage to bag a Javanese hornbill either of which multiple flew high up above the trees during the day.

From the hill I hunted down to the sea coast. There I met the other gentlemen and returned to camp only after it was completely dark.

Links

  • Location: Tji Pandak, Indonesia
  • ANNO – on 22.04.1893 in Austria’s newspapers. The Neue Freie Presse features a correspondent report in Calcutta about FF’s hunt in Nepal dated from 4 April 1893.
  • The k.u.k. Hof-Burgtheater is playing „Bürgerlich und romantisch“, while the k.u.k. Hof-Operntheater is performing the ballet „Die goldene Märchenwelt“.

Tjipandak, 21 April 1893

Hinterlasse eine Antwort

The outlook of catching Bantengs was not very good. Mr. Kerkhoven did not feel well in the morning and decided to stay in camp. Our chief hunter, the Mohammedan Haji, had received news that his daughter had died during the night from fever, an illness that had broken out only nine hours before. The poor man immediately departed to his far away home village to attend the funeral of his dead child.

Thus  we rode under the guidance of Baron van Heeckeren into the hunting ground where we had already hunted the day before and where we would hunt on the opposite ledge of our hunting stands of the day before. The drive again took up three hours. I had a very beautiful stand with good open space. In front of me lay a valley which looked very inviting, but unfortunately nothing emerged out of it. I believed however once hearing noise of breaking. The drivers too claimed to have seen a Banteng. As no shooter noticed anything, this bull must have been a mythical one.

The heat was not as sweltering hot as the day before but still  severe, so that upon my insistence another drive was improvised. The drivers ignited the grass from all sides and entered a certain distance into the jungle  but soon re-emerged out of the thickets. Due to the tiredness of the drivers and their lack of engagement this drive too ended without success.

After the usual bath while wading the river we were already at 4 o’clock in the camp where we failed to meet Mr. Kerkhoven as he had gone out for a peacock hunt, a good sign for his recovery.

It still seemed to early to stay at home and thus we picked up our pellet guns and hunted in the thickets close to our camp to complete the ornithological collection. Even though it was very difficult to advance in the jungle and the nearly impenetrable Alang grass so that we had to struggle at nearly every step, we nevertheless bagged in a relatively short time a quite respectable quantity of birds, among them some interesting species such as the multi-colored Javanese pink-necked green pigeon (Osmotreron vernans); then the green imperial pigeon (Carpophaga aenea); furthermore brown large cuckoo dove (Macropygia emiliana); lineated barlet (Cyanops lineata), red minivets; Java sparrows (Munia oryzivora) and multiple specimens of a glittering dark-green glossy black mynah (Calornis chalybea), as well as various species of swallows. In the evening Mr. Kerkhoven returned from his hunt with a beautiful Javanese peacock hen.

When we assembled in the camp, a heavy rain comae down, that even pierced the roofs of our huts. Still we passed the time in a  very cozy manner: Our hunters yodeled and Hodek presented famous poems of Stieler in Upper-Austrian dialect.

No wonder that I was taken by a quiet reminder of homesickness, that in the midst of this gorgeous tropical world my thoughts flew towards my home, that many memories of the beautiful days spent in Upper Austria were recalled — especially now were recalled when spring entered into the land at home and nature starts blooming anew after the winter’s rest, the ground starts ornamenting itself with young grass and the mountain cock high up in the mountains, sitting on an old weathered fir tree starts singing his amorous song until the hunter’s bullet throws him off, the shoot echoing like thunder breaking against the mountain face and the joyful shout is sent down to the valley veiled in mist.

In the tropics nature reveals to the astonished eye the luxurious splendor of its wonders, intoxicates the senses, when we feel surrounded by the jungle’s magic in the sweltering mugginess — in the mountains at home, nature is met veiled by its poetic charms, talks to the heart when we look up out of the dark coniferous woods to the firns bathed in a hint of pink, announcing dawn.

Links

  • Location: Tji Pandak, Indonesia
  • ANNO – on 21.04.1893 in Austria’s newspapers.
  • The k.u.k. Hof-Burgtheater is playing „Kriemhilde“, while the k.u.k. Hof-Operntheater is performing the opera „Der Troubadour“.