212 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



An occasional wedding also helps to break up 

 the unvarying monotony, and kindly fumislies a 

 topic for general conversation, so that for a time every 

 one does not feel obliged to complain of the abun- 

 dance of rain, if it is the rainy season, or of the lack 

 of rain if it is the dry monsoon. Whenever an official 

 goes back to Holland, or is transferred from one place 

 to another, which usually occurs once in three years, 

 even when he is not promoted, he sells most of his 

 furniture at auction. His fiiends always muster in 

 full force, and each one is expected to show his at- 

 tachment to his departing friend by purchasing a 

 number of articles, or something of little value, at ten 

 or a hundred times its price. Such an occasion also 

 gives a change to the talk among merchants. 



An auction here, instead of being a kind of pri- 

 vate trade, as with us, is directly under the manage- 

 ment of the government. An authorized auctioneer 

 is regularly appointed at each place, and a scribe 

 carefully enters the name of the successful bidder, 

 the article he has purchased, and the price. Three 

 months of grace are allowed before such a bill be- 

 comes due, but then the buyer must at once pay the 

 sum due or make some arrangement satisfactory to 

 the seller. When natives, whose assets are always 

 limited, have purchased a number of articles, the 

 scribe frequently takes upon himself the responsibility 

 of ordering them not to bid ao-ain. 



