Language--Little known to Europeans--Different Languages or Dialects--Those of Súnda, Madúra, and Báli, compared with that of Java Proper--The polite Language, or Language of Honour--The Kawi, or Sacred and Classic Language--Numerals--Chandra Sangkala--Literature--Compositions in the Kawi Language, and in the modern Javan--Influence of Hindu Literature--Introduction of Arabic Literature--Poetry--The Brata Yudha, a Poem--Music--Painting--Sculpture--Architecture--Arithmetic--Astronomy 396
_Geographical Situation of Java--Name--Extent and Form--Divisions--Harbours--Mountains and Volcanos--Rivers and Lakes--General Appearance of the Country--Mineralogical Constitution--Seasons and Climate--Metals--Minerals--Soil--Vegetable and Animal Kingdoms._
The country known to Europeans under the name of JAVA, or JAVA MAJOR, and to the natives under those of _Tána_ (the land) _Jáwa_, or _Núsa_ (the island) _Jáwa_, is one of the largest of what modern geographers call the Sunda Islands. It is sometimes considered one of the Malayan Islands, and forms a part of that division of the Oriental Archipelago which it has been lately proposed to designate as the Asiatic Isles. It extends eastward, with a slight deviation to the south, from 105° 11´ to 114° 33´ of longitude east of Greenwich, and lies between the latitudes 5° 52´ and 8° 46´ south. On the south and west it is washed by the Indian Ocean; on the north-west by a channel called the Straits of _Súnda_, which separates it from Sumatra, at a distance in one point of only fourteen miles; and on the south-east by the Straits of _Báli_, only two miles wide, which divide it from the island of that name. These islands, and others stretching eastward, form with Java a gentle curve of more than two thousand geographical miles, which with less regularity is continued from Acheen to Pegu on one side, and from _Tímor_ to _Papúa_, or New Guinea, on the other: they constitute on the west and south, as do _Bánka_, _Bíliton_, the great islands of Borneo and Celebes, and the Moluccas on the north, the barriers of the Javan Seas and the Malayan Archipelago. From the eastern peninsula of India, Java is distant about one hundred and forty leagues, from Borneo about fifty-six, and from New Holland two hundred.