4 Allan, Battack PrtJiting in Java. 



which I shall give of that it will easily be seen how such a 

 combination is possible. Details of this form of battack- 

 ing are to be found in "Die Indische Batikkunst," by 

 Rouffer and Jagnball, a book of 5 vols., of which 4 have 

 up to the present been issued, and which is worthy of the 

 study of those interested in this subject. 



The second process of battacking is more one of dye- 

 ing than of printing, the whole fabric being immersed in 

 the dye-bath, but prior to this the parts which are not 

 intended to be dyed are protected by a wax preparation, 

 which has been placed on it in such a way as to form a 

 design. In the coarsest cloths this design is made by 

 freehand drawing with a short thick brush, similar to what 

 is used in this country for rough stencilling, the work 

 being usually done by women who sit on the ground 

 with the cloth stretched out on their knees. The 

 wax which is used for the process is a mixture of 

 paraffin wax and beeswax, or a much-adulterated Japan 

 wax which is shipped specially to the country for the 

 purpose. The wax is kept melted in a pot on a small 

 charcoal fire, round which three or four of the women are 

 seated, and to judge from the continuous chatter which is 

 going on, there must be as many subjects for conversation 

 in Malaysia as there are at an afternoon tea-gathering at 

 home. 



The amount of work of this class is much less, how- 

 ever, than that where male labour is employed in 

 stamping the resist patterns on the cloth with a metal 

 die, in exactly the same way as the block-printing of 

 calico was carried out before the introduction of the 

 roller printing machine. In this case, the workman, like 

 the women, is seated on the ground, with his legs under- 

 neath a large padded board, on which the white cotton 

 is spread out. Having coated the die with wax, he 



