slippery from the recent heavy rains. It was not until we had ascended considerably higher that we found the ground sufficiently firm and agreeable for riding. We then entered into a wilder neighbourhood, with here and there a few attap huts, perched on the slopes of the mountains. A little further on, the fields on both sides of the road were covered with European vegetables, such as peas, cabbages, beetroot, beans, artichokes, lettuces, &c.; the ground in which they grew still forming a portion of Van Rhee's plantations. Each field is surrounded by a deep ditch, about six feet in depth, called by the natives Bloombung, which serves as a fence against the predatory nocturnal incursions of wild boars. It seemed very strange to see such extensive fields of cultivated vegetables in the midst of a scene so solitary, where, except the husbandman or his labourers, few visitors are ever seen, though the locality is certainly as beautiful as any I afterwards saw in the island.
