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John Whitehead expedition Conquer Mount Bromo in 1880


Efforts expedition to conquer Mount Bromo, East Java, was already done since the Dutch colonial era. One of the famous journey undertaken by John Whitehead in the 1880s.

John Whitehead, a British ornithologists traveling ascent of the Dutch postal favorite hills, Tosari. According to him, for the more adventurous traveler who has active volcanoes that can be visited. Mount Bromo become one of the areas that offer the most spectacular scenery in between the rows of the mountain in Java. In the dry season which lasts from April to November (based on the story told by modern rover Bill Dalton to John), there are views of the sunrise "blood red".

In early September Whitehead began to travel accompanied by a Dutch youth to the crater of Bromo. Upon arriving at the top of a steep cliff where Tosari are, horse track begins, straddles the ridge far enough, then slowly down to the valley which is overgrown with pine tree forest Casuaria, rising again to reach the crater rim. After that, the path followed by a sharp winding across the desert.

Told, they depart from the hotel at 05:30 am. By using the pony Whitehead et al slowly climbing the steep cliffs Tosari. On arriving at the top of this cliff they could see the beautiful scenery of hills and valleys that lie in the distance. But towering above all this is the most beautiful view of the entire Java, cones Mount Smeroe (Sumeru).

Volcanic peaks was once a barren land up to a certain distance, before the visible area of ​​the timber that resembles sabuh the mountain, forming dark circles around the mountain cone reddish color. After several long standing expectantly, slowly but surely a small puff of smoke soared out of the mouth of the mountain gradually turned into a pillar of smoke undulating which has a reddish color. The pillar of smoke slowly rose and by itself makes waves pillars disappear, spinning slowly, spread beautifully in all directions until all gone. The plume of the higher and continue to grow until it becomes a regular clouds of smoke to be dispersed by the wind at higher altitudes and fall back in the form of fine dust to the area around the mountain. However, when the smoke is slowly rising, this pillar chasm left a large crater with the speed and the roar is more powerful than that could be described with the words, accompanied by a fall of rocks and dust in large quantities into the mouth of the crater. The stones and the dust is going to shut the mouth of the crater, but later released again when a very large steam energy already accumulated.

This beautiful eruptions occur every 15 minutes. After standing for a long time admiring the scenic beauty, the delegation Whitehead back riding into the crater Bromo is located on the left. They saw traces of a male peacock in equestrian paths crossed. One of them managed to be lured out, but the peacock was able to escape before they managed to snap a picture.

After several miles, they arrived at the edge of the old crater of Mount Bromo. From this strategic location scenery unfolds regarded as the most beautiful scenery in the world. A thousand feet below this location lie flat desert, surrounded by mountains of volcanic ash are quite barren, has deep grooves across its surface. A number of small craters scattered had erupted, creating a stack of volcanic ash that very much. One of these mounds, which reached several hundred feet high, shaped like a large cooking pot fluted around him with a deep ditch and equidistant from one another. This crater called Mount Batok.

Colour adds to the unique natural scenic wonders of the region. The walls of the crater has a gray color with different gradations. Grate the crater on the surface this seemed to deflect blue to purple alternately in the morning sunshine. At that time the atmosphere was so bright, so that small differences in the line of the horizon can be seen clearly. Once down the steep slopes of the crater, Whitehead et al across the desert are rarely overgrown by weeds. The only animals that look when it is a bird Pipit (Anthus rufulus).

After riding for a long time through the desert, they arrived at the foot of a long hill. The entire surface is covered by fine dust. It used to be a sea of ​​sand is an active crater of Mount Bromo. However, this time the area has been closed if a layer of frozen lava, with a cavity in it, making every step they pose echoes. The horses they had left at the base of the foothills. Hiking path on the hill has been given the facility of stairs and handrails. When traveling ride, steaming cracks where sulfur flows out can be seen clearly. Currently, low ash hill is the only active part of the Bromo crater. In the past, the active crater of the mountain is expected to have a 20-25 mile perimeter.


On the edge of the crater there is a narrow path used by a visitor to see the craters. However, the view to the bottom hampered by hot steam billowing always swirling rose, although rarely can reach the summit crater. A rumble softly that resembles the sound of a large cauldron that is being used to cook something in it.

Bromo latest conditions at this time already fairly quiet save the story of his past full of mystery. That said, a large frozen lava rocks strewn hundreds of meters away across the sand that this is a silent witness fearsome power once held by the giant. When looking at the sights like these that we can realize the magnitude of the power possessed by the volcano, which is used to change the shape of the Earth's surface up to several kilometers away. A few months before Whitehead arrived at Tosari, the lady owner of the hotel has just lost one of his sons who buried the flow of hot mud spewed by Smeroe within a few miles, along with the rest of the coffee plantations, houses, people and everything.

Source: Java Old Days World Meets West 650 years from 1330 to 1985, John Whitehead Climb Mount Bromo, 1880s, excerpted from the Exploration of Mount Kina Balu, North Borneo (1893), p. 91-93

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