IN JAVA. Hi 



me, it ought to be especially made to some measure of my own 

 body — of hand, arm or thigh, of the breadth of my two thumbs 

 or of my span ; but to discover the same potency in a ready- 

 made blade, I ought to divide a straw or a grass-stem, of equal 

 length with the blade, into as many lengths as it contains of its 

 own breadth at a distance from the hilt of twice the measure of 

 the first joint of the thumb. These pieces laid on the blade 

 alternately lengthwise and crosswise would reveal the suitability 

 of the weapon for my use, by the direction of the last piece — 

 crosswise it would indicate a fence—" a bar sinister " ; length- 

 wise, no obstruction— a favourable omen. Another test was to 

 measure its length by the breadth of my right and left 

 thumbs alternately, repeating at each alternation one of the 

 words, " Sri, Lungu, Dunia, Rara, Pati, Sri," &c., and according 

 to which of these words should fall to the last thumb-breadth 

 would the blade be for me a wise choice or not. Sri being a 

 designation of honour, and Dunia, signifying the world, would 

 therefore be good omens; whereas -J^aros, meaning sickness, 

 and Pati, death, would indicate misfortune, and the purchase of 

 such a kriss would bring me disaster. In much the same way, 

 I can recollect how as boys we used to augur our destiny by 

 the number of buttons on our garments, — whether we were to 

 become " a soldier, a sailor, a tinker, a tailor, a hangman, a 

 lawyer or a thief." 



In the beginning of May I left my bungalow on this 

 salubrious plateau on my return to Buitenzorg. Everywhere 

 the golden rice-fields were dotted with harvesters, their 

 lacquered hats resplendent in blue and gold, the brown 

 shoulders of the men and the scarlet calicoes of the women 

 and children in the midst of the yellow grain, forming bright 

 pictures in the sunny landscape all along the way. 



After a few weeks in Buitenzorg and Batavia, spent in 

 packing up and despatching my collections, I left for Telok- 

 betong, in South Sumatra. 



