overrun with plants and creepers, and closely backed by the
gloomy forest, he is struck by the solemnity and picturesque
beauty of the scene, and is led to ponder on the strange law of
progress, which looks so like retrogression, and which in so many
distant parts of the world has exterminated or driven out a
highly artistic and constructive race, to make room for one
which, as far as we can judge, is very far its inferior.

Few Englishmen are aware of the number and beauty of the
architectural remains in Java. They have never been popularly
illustrated or described, and it will therefore take most persons
by surprise to learn that they far surpass those of Central
America, perhaps even those of India. To give some idea of these
ruins, and perchance to excite wealthy amateurs to explore them
thoroughly and obtain by photography an accurate record of their
beautiful sculptures before it is too late, I will enumerate the
most important, as briefly described in Sir Stamford Raffles'
"History of Java."

BRAMBANAM.--Near the centre of Java, between the native capitals
of Djoko-kerta and Surakerta, is the village of Brambanam, near
which are abundance of ruins, the most important being the
temples of Loro-Jongran and Chandi Sewa. At Loro-Jongran there
were twenty separate buildings, six large and fourteen small
temples. They are now a mass of ruins, but the largest temples
are supposed to have been ninety feet high. They were all
constructed of solid stone, everywhere decorated with carvings
and bas-reliefs, and adorned with numbers of statues, many of
which still remain entire. At Chandi Sewa, or the "Thousand
Temples," are many fine colossal figures. Captain Baker, who