ABDI AND ABDULLAH 345 



move stones and cut prunes small. Dissolve one- 

 half ounce gelatin and add to one-quarter pound 

 sugar, prunes, and kernels. Pour into wetted mold 

 to cool, first adding one-half glass of sherry. Must 

 be served with banana cream (the Newland). 



The third occasion made memorable by a deli- 

 cious epoch-making dish I shall not specify, as we 

 have dined with many friends during the last nine 

 months. Let it be sufficient if I say that it was at 

 one of these dinners or luncheons. 



In our varied gastronomical experiences we 

 found that the cooking on the English ships was 

 usually bad, while that on the German ships was 

 good, excepting the ship that took us from Naples 

 to Mombasa. The Dutch ships were the best of 

 all and the Dutch hotels in Java were the best we 

 struck outside of Paris and London. In compari- 

 son with the Hotel des Indes, in Batavia, all the 

 rest of the hotels of the Orient can be mentioned 

 only in a furtive way. It was a revelation of excel- 

 lence, in perfect keeping with the charm and beauty 

 of Java as a whole. 



But we were speaking of things to eat. 



At the Hotel des Indes they served us a modest 

 little dish called rice tafel, or "rijs-tafel." You 

 have to go to luncheon early in order to eat it be- 

 fore dinner time. It was served by twenty-four 

 waiters, marching in single file, the line extending 

 from the kitchen to the table and then returning by 



