Peeps At Many Lands - Java

PEEPS AT MANY LANDS JAVA J. F. SCHELTEMA, M. A WITH TWELVE FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR HUGO V. PEDERSEN LONDON ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK IQI2 THE SUSUHUNAN OF SURAKAKTA. CONTENTS CHAPTER PACK I. A TRUE FAIRY-LAND ....... I II. A LAND OF PLENTY ....... 9 III. THE QUEEN OF THE EAST . . . . . 1 6 IV. OUT OF TROUBLE . . . . . . - 23 V. THE GARDEN OF THE SPIRITS ...... 30 VI. JAVAS FIRE - MOUNTAINS ....... 38 VII. THE BRIDE OF THE ENDLESS WATER . . . .46 VIII. THE HEART OF JAVA ....... 54 IX. THE NATIVE COURTS . . . . . . 6 1 X. AMUSEMENTS ........ 69 XI. PUBLIC FEASTS . . . . . . . .76 XII. ARTS AND CRAFTS ....... 82 111 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS THE SUS0HUNAN OF SURAKARTA .... FRONTISPIECE Facing Page IRRIGATED RICE FIELDS IN JAVA ...... 9 A JAVANESE HOUSEBOAT . . . . . . 1 6 DWARF BODY-GUARD ATTENDING THE SUSUHUNAN . . .27 BOATS ON THE RIVER BEHIND THE OLD GASWORKS AT SAMARANG . 32 VOLCANOS SAND-SEA OF THE BROMO WITH THE SMERU IN THE DISTANCE . . . . . . . . .41 AN OLD BUDDHIST TEMPLE AT MENDOOT . . ., .48 ONE OF THE SUSUHUNAN S GUARD . . . . . 57 A MESSENGER FROM THE SUSUHUNAN TO THE RESIDENT OF SURAKARTA ........ 64 NEW YEAR GREETINGS ON A PLANTATION . . . - 73 HINDU GIRLS OF THE DUTCH EAST INDIES . . . . So CLIMBING FOR COCO A NUTS ..... ON THE COVER S etch Map on page vii VII A PEEP AT JAVA CHAPTER I A TRUE FAIRY-LAND. JAVA is the most important island of the Dutch East Indies, but anyone looking for it in an ordinary atlas, without paying attention to scale and pro portion, will not be impressed by its size. Among the many islands of the Malay Archipelago to which it belongs, it is by no means the largest. Borneo, Sumatra and Celebes are much bigger and yet Java contains about fourtimes the area of the Netherlands, whose richest colonial possession it forms. The fast increasing population passed the thirty million mark at the beginning of this century and may be divided into three groups the Javanese proper for the central, the Soondanese for the western and the Madurese for the eastern part. Among the Europeans living in their midst, the Dutch are, of course, in the majority among the oriental strangers within their gates, it is John Chinaman who claims special attention by his thriving activity. JAV. I I A Peep at Java The natives arc of small stature, wiry and graceful in their movements. Their colour is brown in various shades and the features of the artistocracy remarkably delicate and intelligent, running to the pale golden hue which makes the poets sing of a skin like the rind of the mellow, yellow lansat a small, juicy fruit resem bling a prune in shape but not in taste. The sarong a wide piece of cloth hanging down from the waist or taken up under the arms, is the principal part of their dress. When showing themselves in public, the women wear nowadays a longer or shorter sleeved jacket in addition and generally a scarf, which they put to many uses. Their heads as a rule remain bare, but the native sense of decency compels man to cover his hair with a kerchief, adjusted in an endless variety of folds according to provincial fashions neither does he consider himself properly attired with out his fern a kind of dagger stuck behind in the doubling of his sarong. The higher the social standing, the more elaborate and costly the toilet of both sexes, but the choice of light materials is essential in a warm climate and young Java, if some festive occasion doesnot require dressing up, declines to be bothered with any wearing apparel at all Misses of six or seven, going to market with their mothers, resplendent in one or two bracelets and perhaps a necklace for sole raiment, may be met any fine morning, gravely parading their many-coloured sunshades. Their little brothers, just as innocent of clothes, minus even their finery, are probably absorbed 2 A True Fairy Land in some game or hunting crickets which, trained to fight, offer glorious sport...