Page:Scented isles and coral gardens- Torres Straits, German New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies, by C.D. Mackellar, 1912.pdf/14

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PREFACE

For the coloured pictures an apology is due. The author, as is evident, is no artist, and they are only published here to try and give even a small and imperfect idea of the colour which the pen can only tell of but never paint.

For the other illustrations I am indebted to many sources—to the Official Australian publications; to my friends Jonkheer Carel van Haeften and Jonkheer Francis van Haeften; in some cases to unknown photographers; and lastly I wish to express my most grateful thanks to Messrs. Ruys & Co. of the “Rotterdamsche Lloyd Royal Mail Line” for their courtesy in placing me in communication with the “Vereeniging Toeristenverkeer te Batavia” or “Official Tourist Bureau” of Weltevreden, Batavia, Java, and to the latter for the very kind permission they gave me through their Amsterdam representative to make use of any illustrations in their publication Java the Wonderland.

Any one contemplating a tour in what is so truly called a Wonderland, can do no better than place himself in the hands of the above-named companies, from whose officials they will receive every aid, courtesy, and information. They may wander for months in the fascinating Dutch East Indies and not exhaust their varied interests.

I also would here like to take the opportunity of thanking all those people, personally unknown to me, who, on reading another publication of mine, did me the honour and the kindness to write me