Chinese Amusements. — French Opera. 275 



Celestial Empire, seated in a circle on the ground amid the 

 flare of torches and lamps, each holding in his lean hand a 

 pair of greasy, well-worn cards, and with a little heap of cop- 

 per or silver pieces spread out before him, following the 

 chances of the game with a wild eagerness that makes him 

 utterly heedless of what is passing around him, presents a 

 spectacle of such powerful interest, that the beholder, especially 

 if a foreigner, likes to remain amid a scene so peculiar, despite 

 its repulsiveness. The most melancholy consideration per- 

 haps of all is that this form of dissipation seems by no means 

 indigenous to Java, but was first introduced with many other 

 forms of vice under the influence of foreign civilization. 



For the observant traveller, a visit to such so-called '■'• places 

 of amusement " possesses a far deeper interest than theatres 

 or operas, which one may see and hear among the various 

 settlements in this Archipelago. Such wandering companies, 

 even those which are as highly remunerated as the 

 " troupes " who minister to the aesthetic tastes of the wealthy 

 inhabitants of the countries beyond sea,* or rather to an 

 indispensable fashion, must awaken among European visitors 

 melancholy reminiscences of vanished triumphs of art. 

 Thus Batavia, during our stay, could boast a French operatic 

 company. The theatre, lofty and air}^, though of but one 

 storey, without either boxes or gallery, had far more the 



* Thus the " Prima donna" receives for tragic opera 1500 guilders (£125), and for 

 comic opera 1800 guilders (£150) per month during the season. The " troupe" is 

 usually engaged for a year and a half or two years together. 



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