A TRAVELER'S NOTES ON JAVA 



101 



clothing and descend to the plains, and, 

 delaying only one night in Soerabaya, 

 take the government .railway and in five 

 hours arrive at Soerakarta, or Solo. This 

 is the seat of one of the two great native 

 princes, called the Soesoehoenan, who re- 

 ceives a handsome annuity from the 

 government and is allowed to pose as 

 ruler over four or five hundred thousand 

 people. Here we are in the heart of 

 old Java, where it is possible to see the 

 native life of the people as it existed 

 centuries ago. Owing to the good offices 

 of the Resident, we were allowed to in- 

 spect the Kraton, the great wall-encircled 

 compound of the reigning prince. Ac- 

 companied by a Dutch ol^cial, the morn- 

 ing after our arrival we drove to the 

 palace. This is built in the center of an 

 area surrounded by walls four miles in 

 extent. An army of over ten thousand 

 servants and pensioners live within the 

 Kraton. At the entrance to the inner 

 palace we were met by the brother of the 

 Soesoehoenan, an agreeable gentleman, 

 dressed in a jacket of European cut, but 

 wearing the universal sarong about his 

 lower limbs. The sash which held this 

 in place contained a jeweled kris or dag- 

 ger, the weapon which is worn by all 

 persons of any position in this part of 

 Jav^. 



Under his guidance we visited the royal 

 stables and carriage-house, the spacious 

 audience hall and zoological garden, and 

 partook of lunch in the upper room of 

 the clock tower, which commanded a fine 

 view of the enclosure. Here a great 

 variety of food and drink was offered 

 to us by numerous native servants, all 

 presented to us in the servile, squatting 

 attitude assumed in the presence of roy- 

 alty. Descending, we resumed the rounds 

 of the palace, and everywhere encoun- 

 tered an army of officials and servants. 

 Presently a middle-aged woman, dressed 

 in the careless garb of the country, sepa- 

 rated herself from a group of retainers 

 and, walking up to the prince, shook his 

 hand with great assurance of manner. 

 We were informed by our European 

 friends that she was the chief woman 

 ofiicial of the palace, for the time being 



in undress costume. With her frouzy, 

 gray hair, and a great ball of tobacco 

 protruding from her lips, this Javanese 

 mistress of the robes made anything but 

 a courtly appearance. 



Thanking our kindly host, we returned 

 to our hotel and, later in the day, went 

 shopping in the busy streets of the town. 

 From a Chinese merchant we secured a 

 number of krises or small swords, said 

 to be of ancient date, but with wooden 

 handles which had a suspiciously modern 

 appearance. Here as elsewhere a number 

 of women peddlers brought to the hotel 

 samples of the artistic cloths from which 

 the sarongs or skirts of the Javanese are 

 made. 



STYLES OF DRESS 



The universal style of dress consists 

 of the sarong and kabaya. "The kabaya 

 is a sort of dressing jacket, often em- 

 broidered. Under it is worn the sarong, 

 a brightly colored skirt falling down 

 straight and narrow, with one simple, 

 deep fold in front, and kept in place by 

 a silk scarf wound around the waist sev- 

 eral times." 



Here in Solo the old and the new in 

 dress are often found in startling con- 

 trasts. At the court festivals held here 

 it is possible to see groups of Javanese 

 nobles, some in the modified European 

 attire and others in the ancient court 

 dress of the country. During our stay 

 we were invited to an evening reception, 

 given by the prime minister of the Sul- 

 tan, and all the native men present as 

 guests wore the modified European cos- 

 tume. At least once a year the prince 

 gives a great entertainment, when he 

 dispenses a truly royal hospitality. Hun- 

 dreds of natives and Europeans are 

 invited to the festival, and the best actors 

 and dancers are engaged. After one of 

 these entertainments it is said all sorts 

 of tableware and bric-a-brac are offered 

 for sale in the city — a result of the whole- 

 sale thefts on the part of the servants, 

 who seldom receive any pay and take this 

 means to "get even." It is said some one 

 remonstrated with the Soesoehoenan for 

 permitting this condition of affairs to 



