VII.] THE OCEANIC MONGOLS. 235 



Lombok, and even Sumbawa, present the strange spectacle of 

 large communities professing every form of belief, from the grossest 

 heathendom to pure monotheism. 



As I have elsewhere pointed out 1 , it is the same with the 

 cultures and general social conditions, which show an almost 

 unbroken transition from the savagery of Sumbawa to the relative 

 degrees of refinement reached by the natives of Lombok and 

 especially of Bali. Here, however, owing to the unfavourable 

 political relations, a retrograde movement is perceptible in the 

 crumbling temples, grass-grown highways, and neglected home- 

 steads. But it is everywhere evident enough that "just as 

 Hinduism has only touched the outer surface of their religion, 

 it has failed to penetrate into their social institutions, which, like 

 their gods, originate from the time when Polynesian heathendom 

 was all powerful 2 ." 



A striking illustration of the vitality of the early beliefs is 

 presented by the local traditions, which relate how Hindu 

 these foreign gods installed themselves in the Lesser Legends in 

 Sundanese Islands after their expulsion from Java 

 by the Muhammadans in the i5th century. Being greatly 

 incensed at the introduction of the Koran, and also anxious to 

 avoid contact with the " foreign devils, ' ; the Hindu deities moved 

 eastwards with the intention of setting up their throne in Bali. 

 But Bali already possessed its own gods, the wicked Rakshasas, 

 who fiercely resented the intrusion, but in the struggle that ensued 

 were annihilated, all but the still reigning Mraya Dewana. Then 

 the new thrones had to be erected on heights, as in Java ; but at 

 that time there were no mountains in Bali, which was a very flat 

 country. So the difficulty was overcome by bodily transferring 

 the four hills at the eastern extremity of Java to the neighbouring- 

 island. Gunong Agong, highest of the four, was set down in 

 the east, and became the Olympus of Bali, while the other three 

 were planted in the west, south, and north, and assigned to the 

 different gods according to their respective ranks. Thus were 

 at once explained the local theogony and the present physical 

 features of the island. 



1 Academy, May i, 1897, p. 469. 



2 Cool, p. 139. 



