noon
Java ! magnificent and fatal country , where the most admirable flowers conceal hideous reptiles , where the brightest fruits contain subtle poisons , where grow splendid trees , whose very shadow is death -- where the gigantic vampire bat sucks the blood of its victims whilst it prolongs their sleep , by surrounding them with a fresh and balmy air , no fan moving so rapidly as the great perfumed wings of this monster ! The month of October , 1831 , draws near its close . It is noon -- an hour well nigh mortal to him who encounters the fiery heat of the sun , which spreads a sheet of dazzling light over the deep blue enamel of the sky . An ajoupa , or hut , made of cane mats , suspended from long bamboos , which are driven far into the ground , rises in the midst of the bluish shadows cast by a tuft of trees , whose glittering verdure resembles green porcelain . These quaintly formed trees , rounded into arches , pointing like spires , overspreading like parasols , are so thick in foliage , so entangled one with the other , that their dome is impenetrable to the rain . The soil , ever marshy , notwithstanding the insupportable heat , disappears beneath an inextricable mass of creepers , ferns , and tufted reeds , of a freshness and vigor of vegetation almost incredible , reaching nearly to the top of the ajoupa , which lies hid like a nest among the grass .