Traveling

During that time at the experimental station, my father traveled extensively through Priangan and visited the Cinchona plantations located there to conduct garden experiments for the Cinchona culture. He was also responsible for the meteorological observations that had to be carried out at Tji-Njiroean. Many trips to the various rain gauges set up were necessary.

The top of Mount Malabar rose 800 meters above the Pengalengan plateau. From this peak, there was a magnificent view over the entire width of the island of Java, overlooking both the North and South coasts. The trips to the various plantations, as well as the monthly recurring journey to Mount Malabar, all journeys through the virgin forest, increased my father's love for the wild nature of Java. This made him naturally suited to scout out a new area for a tea department that would be linked to the G.K.O. Consequently, he successively arrived at Mount Tiloe, Mount Papandajan, and the extensive forests of Mount Kendeng to the south of the Pengalengan plateau.

Mount Tiloe is named after the Sundanese numeral "tiloe," which means three. When you look south from Bandung, you can see a series of mountains marking the edge of the Bandung plateau, including Mount Tiloe, which descends in three terraces to the level of the Pengalengan plateau. Very suitable terrains for tea cultivation were discovered on the slopes of Mount Tiloe, were it not for the fact that they drained into the rivers, which provided for the rice fields around Bandung.

After spending about 14 days there, my father went to Papandajan, the mountain that closes off the Pengalengan plateau in the southeast. There is a road running over the most western flank of this mountain, connecting the furthest section of the Sedip plantation, called Tji-Leuleuj, with the Ardjoena plantation.

This road is about 10 km long and is completely isolated in the forest. About 5 km from the last gardens of Tji-leuleuj, my father found a sort of indentation in the roadside, where the surveying group set up a temporary shelter by stretching sails.

A simple foldable drawing table, a field bed, and a stool, along with the surveying equipment, were the entire setup. About 20 km away from the indentation, laborers were sought from the villages south of the Ardjoena plantation.

These coolies, under my father's instructions, dug a trench in the virgin forest. They cleared the undergrowth to make it possible to work with the surveying instruments and make a map of the selected areas. Care was taken to ensure that no inferior pieces were measured.

Measuring an area of about 800 hectares took three weeks. Unfortunately, upon returning to the plantation, it was just received that these areas had to remain reserved for the plantations located to the north and south of them. The third attempt on the north side of Mount Kendeng was more successful.

Approximately 20 km from the G.K.O. was the Kiara Roa crate factory (meaning many Kiara's or sacred waringin trees, which grew in the forest behind the factory). This crate factory had a small forest concession, which was cleared for the sake of its crate factory. The G.K.O. would take over this concession and suitable areas needed to be found to fill the 800 hectares.

The first evening, my father stayed overnight on the bank of a small river about an hour's walk behind the crate factory. From there, the next day, the investigation began. After approximately 14 days, it could be reported to the G.K.O. management that they had succeeded in this.

Pierre had to wait for three more days because the director himself wanted to come and inspect these areas. He used these days to take a trip through the primeval forest to the south. There was a jungle of about 100 hectares, with only a few sparse small paths winding through it.

The journey went over the Sodang-Abig, a mountain peak 1900 m high. Just below this peak, a very steep road began, which dropped 400 m to a level of 1500 m, where a completely hidden mountain lake called Litoew Tjirompang lay.

The kind of paths my father followed were used by the natives from the south to transport forest products, especially rattan and sugar, called "Goela" in Sundanese. That's why these small forest paths were called "Djalang Goela." The return journey from the lake to the camping site took about 3 hours longer than the outward journey, since the steep "descent" now had to be climbed upwards...