\5 i 2. sultan's caud party. 



iug devotions, which lasted till eight. I could hear 

 the chanting of the priests, and it put me in mind 

 of rather a noisy and discordant chorus of a drinking 

 song. The Sultan having been rather a free liver 

 in his youth, had latterly become religious, and was 

 much influenced by his priests. 



At eight o'clock the European officers returned 

 in full dress, and the Sultan and his suite came out 

 from chapel, and preparations were made for the 

 evening's amusement. In one compartment of the 

 hall was a round table, with cards, and the Sultan, 

 who is still fond of a little gaming, immediately 

 formed a party for vingtun, in which the greater 

 part of the company joined. We observed that his 

 sons treated him with great respect. One of them, 

 in a European uniform, on coming in to join the card 

 party, assumed a crouching attitude, and first went 

 and made a rapid kneeling obeisance, with joined 

 hands raised before him, to his father, before he 

 took his place at the table. Instead of joining the 

 card party, I amused myself with examining the 

 preparations for a drama in the Javanese style. 



At the entrance of the hall, a large screen of 

 white calico, about eight feet high and sixteen or 

 twenty long, had been erected, behind which, in the 

 centre, hung a very bright lamp. On the floor lay 

 a large recently-cut stem of a cabbage palm-tree, in 

 which were stuck several hundred puppets. These 

 figures were cut or stamped out of thick leather, 

 and were gilded and painted, and said to cost 



