INHABITANTS OF JAVA. 



167 



mingled with traces of Buddhism. These highlanders are distinguished from their 

 Mohammedan neighbours by their honesty and more correct morals. Amongst 

 them murder, theft, and adultery are unknown, and visitors guilty of any mis- 

 demeanour are banished from the commune. The heads of the villages take 

 the names of " father " and " source of joy." 



The Javanese proper, representing over two- thirds of the population, occupy 

 all the central provinces east of Cheribon Bay, as well as the northern seaboard 

 between Cheribon and the Sunda Strait, and the whole of the south-east coast. 

 Their ancient liturgical language, the Kavi, that is, " cultivated," contains a large 

 number of Sanskrit words. It has been preserved from oblivion by old documents 

 and inscriptions, and numerous traces survive, especially in Javanese poetry. The 

 great scenes of Hindu mythology are still commemorated in the national legends, 

 poems, theatrical representations, and those icajcmgs, or marionettes, in which the 

 natives take such delight. 



Fig. 66. — Inhahttants of Java. 

 Scale 1 : 11,000,000. 



Sundanese. 



Javanes?. 



Madurese. 

 180 Miles. 



Tenggerese. 



Amid the Javanese populations, there still exists a community of about three 

 thousand fugitive Sivaites, who have preserved both their Hindu practices and 

 their ancient dialect largely affected by elements derived from the sacred 

 language. These are the Tengger people, who have taken refuge on the plateau 

 of that name. Here they occupy large houses where several families reside under 

 one roof, and where they keep alive the sacred flame, which has never been 

 extinguished since it was brought ages ago from the shores of India. 



Modern Javanese is divided into several provincial dialects, each of which, like 

 the Sundanese, comprises two forms, the "high" and the "low" {Kromo and 

 Ngoko), the first used in addressing superiors or equals when treated ceremoniously, 

 the second employed amongst friends or in addressing inferiors. The differences 

 between the two forms are profound, affecting the vocabulary, the phraseology, 



