SERI CHEWING. 43 



kind of fear on the part of the Dutch, that England 

 has her eye on Java, and will take the first opportu- 

 nity of getting possession of it. 



While we smoked our cigars after dinner the 

 Rongo was chewing seri, or beetel as it is commonly 

 called, an attendant always crouching behind his 

 chair with his seri box ready to hand to him. This 

 was of silver, about eight inches by five, divided 

 into compartments for the various ingredients. In 

 using it, a leaf of the beetel pepper, quite green and 

 fresh, is taken, and a little lime mixed with water 

 smeared over it, a slice or two of areca-nut is then 

 sheered off with a peculiar instrument for the pur- 

 pose, and the whole is wrapped in some finely shred 

 tobacco, and popped into the mouth. It is by no 

 means an elegant practice, as the lips are continu- 

 ally smeared with a red-coloured saliva, looking 

 almost like blood, and the quid of tobacco is often 

 kept half protruding from the lips, and before it is 

 thrown away the teeth and gums are generally well 

 rubbed with it up and down and far back. It is 

 universally used by both sexes, and looks especially 

 disgusting in a woman till the eye gets accustomed 

 to it. The Rongo also allowed us to examine his 

 kriss, which, although not so handsome as some we 

 saw, was as usual much valued as an heir-loom, hav- 

 ing been in his family for several generations. The 

 sheath was of wood, with a thin case of embossed 

 gold, and a large curiously-shaped mass of a black 

 and white wood for the head, which he told us was 



