244 " THE (JAMALA.\(;." 



the palace, from wliicli, this time, liowever, the general 

 public was excluded. Here tea was handed round to 

 the Europeans, — an attention on the part of the Resi- 

 dent, I was informed, — and after a bow to the Emperor 

 we all withdrew. 



1 trust that I have not spun too long a yarn on so 

 unimportant a subject as that of a native Court, but 

 what has tempted me to note down every detail is that 

 the few remnants of mediaeval customs and ceremonies 

 still existing are rapidly disappearing altogether, 

 whilst, as long as they last, they bear an interest beyond 

 their tinsel pageantry. 



In the evening I attended a native concert at the 

 Residency ; the orchestra or "gamalang," consisted of 

 instruments of various kinds and shapes, the principal 

 feature is the kettle-drum, of which fourteen, say seven 

 in each row, are let into a bamboo frame, and of these 

 there were four, also ordinary large drums and gongs,-^ 

 for noise is essential at these entertainments,— timbrels, 

 flutes, and various stringed instruments. Their music is 

 either wild or plaintive, and on the whole harmonious; 

 a little of it is very pleasant, and the grouping of the 

 orchestra is not the least agreeable part of it. 



On the following day, thanks to the instructions 

 from headquarters at Batavia, a carriage and four 

 horses, or rather ponies, appeared at the appointed time 



