JAVA. 



631 



Jara. native* of Java are generally about the middle size of 

 f^ Europeans, straight and well made, steady and upright 

 in their gait, affecting a superiority over the other inha- 

 bitants. Their eyes are black and prominent, the fore- 

 head broad, the nose somewhat flattened and curving 

 downward* at the point, the upper lip rather projecting 

 and arched, the joint* of their hand* and feet remark- 

 ably email, and especially in the female sex remark, 

 ably pliant, so as easily to bend backwards. The co- 

 lour of their skin is a deep brown, their hair black, 

 and kept constantly smooth and shining with cocoa-nut 

 oil. Black i* also the favourite colour of the teeth, 

 which are all stained of the deepest hue, except the two 

 in the front, which are covered with gold leaf. Chil- 

 dren of both sexes go entirely naked till their eighth or 

 ninth year ; or, at most, the young females wear a belt 

 round their loin* with a broad metal plate in front. The 

 dress of the men among the common people consists of 

 a piece of cotton wrapt round the waist, drawn between 

 the leg*, and fastened behind, with a handkerchief or 

 small cap upon the head. Persons of a higher class 

 wear a wide Moorish coat of flowered cotton or other 

 tuff, and generally turbans instead of caps. They era- 

 dicate the hair from every pan of the body except the 

 head ; and rub the face, and other parts not covered by 

 clothing, with a composition of cocoa nut oil and sandal 

 wood dast, as a preventati ve against too copious a per- 

 rpusAion, and the bite* of insect*. The dress of the 

 namim nearly resemble* that of the men. It consists 

 of a piece of cotton or c hints called saron, wrapt round 

 the body a* high a* to cover the bosom, and hanging 



ceremonies : 



Java. 



down to the knee* or ankle*. Over this they 

 wear a short jacket, but generally the shoulder* and 

 part of the back remain uncovered. They have no co- 

 vering to the head, but wear their hair bound in a fil- 

 let, and fastened behind with large pin* of wood*, tor- 

 toise-shell, silver or gold, according to the rank of the 

 lady : thi* head-dress i* frequently adorned with a va- 

 of flowers. Both sexes are remarkably fond of 

 tally in the morning ; yet are in other 

 filthy in their person*. 



he dwellings of the lower order* are rather huts than 

 houses, constructed of bamboo, plastered with mud, and 

 thatched with leave* of the cocoa-nut tree. There is sel- 

 6am met* tisasione apartment for the family and poultry ; 

 and toe fornhure generally consists only of a bedstead of 

 for boiling their victuals, a hollow 

 the rice, and a few cocoa-nut shells 

 They are tofficiently temperate in 

 of their extreme poverty, 



, a I. w 



block far 

 as drinking v 

 isBterdMt, in 



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the nature of their food or time* of meals. Their com- 

 mon article of subsistence i* rice, boiled with a little fish 

 or capsicum, or salt, and the fruit of the cocoa-nut ; but 

 in the mountainous region*, where rice is not raised, 

 they make use of a certain root called tallas, with the 

 ah which they procure from wood ashes. Notwith- 

 standing, in short, the fertility of the country, the op. 

 pressed inhabitant* are little better than starving sava- 

 ges. They are continually chewing betel or pinary, or 



i nut, lime of thelU, and 



esdi of long pepper, made into a paste, and rolled up 

 in a green leaf of betel- pepper, which communicates to 

 the tongue and lip* a deep red colour, afterwards turn- 

 ing to a dark mahogany brown. The areca nut, espe- 

 cially when fresh from the tree, ha* a strong narcotic 

 power, and a small portion will intoxicate those who are 

 not m cuetmsjad to it. They are fond of opium, and 

 indulge freely in intoxicating liquor* at their religious 



but the greater part of the people stupify 

 themselves with the less expensive articles of tobacco ^~ .*^ 

 and bangue. Though subject to few diseases, they are 

 not long lived ; seldom exceeding the age of 50, and 

 very few attaining threescore years. Their physicians, 

 who are frequently females, though ignorant of anato- 

 my, are said to prcxluce surprising cures by their know- 

 ledge of medicinal herbs, and by the use of friction 

 with oil. The Javanese are polygamists, and marry Mamagw. 

 as many wives as they can maintain ; besides keeping 

 a retinue of female slaves as concubines, but the lower 

 classes have seldom more than one wife. They are said 

 to be extremely indifferent with regard to the chastity 

 of their females, and to be in this respect the most de- 

 praved people in the world. Then- women are more 

 comely than the men, but become extremely ugly as 

 they grow old. They are much attached to Europeans, Amuse . 

 and fatally jealous of losing their affections. A Ja- ments . 

 vanese person of rank spends most of his private hours 

 in the society of his women, smoking his hooka in pla- 

 cid apathy, while they are dancing before him, or lis- 

 tening to their narrations of traditionary stories, or the 

 adventures recorded in the sacred books. The princi- 

 pal amusement of a more active nature, is a kind of 

 tennis-play, at which they are remarkably dexterous, 

 striking the ball (which is about the size of a man's 

 bead) with their feet, knees, or elbows, and keeping it 

 in continual motion like a shuttle-cock. They are also 

 extremely fond of cock-fighting, for which they keep a 

 particular breed of a prodigious size, nearly as large as 

 the Norfolk bustard. Instead of spurs, they fix to the 

 bottom of the foot a piece of sharpened iron shaped like 

 a scythe, and about the size of the blade of a large pen- 

 knife; with a single stroke of which, the bird will 

 sometimes completely lay open the body of his antago- 

 nist. The principal weapon of the Javanese, which Weapons. 

 they always carry with them, is a kind of dagger called 

 a creese, resembling a small hunting knife, with a 

 blade of hardened steel, of a serpentine shape, and ca- 

 pable, from its form, of inflicting a large and wide 

 wound: It* point also is frequently stained with a 

 mortal poison. Their mode of salutation consists in Salutations. 

 touching the forehead with the right hand, accompa- 

 nied by a slight inclination of the body. They are de- character, 

 scribed as proud and cowardly, extremely arrogant in 

 their treatment of persons who are their interiors, in 

 which light they regard all foreigners ; but not less 

 cringing towards their superiors, or those from whom 

 they have any favours to expect. They are remarkably 

 indolent in their habits, and are with great difficulty 

 excited to labour ; a disposition, which, considering the 

 industry of the Chinese who reside among them, may 

 be ascribed not so much to the influence of their cli- 

 mate, a* to the oppressive nature of their government, 

 which renders them so uncertain of being suffered to 

 possess the property which they may acquire, and thus 

 takes away every motive to active exertion. 



The Chinese inhabitants of the island are very nu- i 

 merous, especially around Batavia, where the poll tax 

 paid only by the men yields 40,000 rix-dollars, where 

 they are calculated to amount to 100,000 souls. Their 

 appearance, dress, and character is every where the 

 same, as in the empire of China ; but in Java their ex- 

 traordinary industry forms a striking contrast with the 

 laziness of the other inhabitants. Though severely 

 taxed by the Dutch, they generally found means to ac- 

 cumulate wealth. In all the towns they are the great 

 holders of capital, and carry on a considerable trade 

 will their native country, and the several islands in 



