I50 



Report of a Journey Around the W^orld. 



half a dozen women were at work in a corner. Fig. 121 shows a 

 similar scene, although not the one we saw. The cloth used is of 

 native material and weave ; the stands are neatly and conveni- 

 ently made of bambu. The necessary fire to keep the black wax 

 molten was smouldering in the midst, and one or two babies were 

 in the arms or on the back of the mothers without hindering to a 

 great extent the work. A little brass pen with a bowl reservoir is 



121. PAINTING BATIK, GARGET. 



used to draw the pattern on the part to be protected from the action 

 of the dye, and when only the part to be dyed is without the waxen 

 shield it is dipped into the desired dye ; the wax is afterwards 

 melted off in boiling water and the process repeated. This freehand 

 work is certainly attractive, and yet evidently doomed to pass, as 

 the print works of Manchester have flooded the island with clever 

 imitations of good types at greath- cheaper price. It is hard to 

 detect these imitations, as the very irregularities of the hand-made 

 specimen are all copied ; they are seldom, if ever, done on native 



cloth. In the batik it is important to have the color of the dyes 



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