1832.] ISLAND OF JAVA. 
275 
God, and Mahommed was his prophet," they are not much 
acquainted with the tenets of the Moslem faith, and in fact care 
Tery httle about them. Although they practise the rites of the 
faithful, yet all classes drink wine, and other inebriating liquors, 
whenever they feel disposed ; and those who abstain are not ac- 
tuated by any religious motives. 
Not only the features, the manners, and the remains of the 
civil and religious institutions of the Hindoos are still apparent 
among the Javanese, but it is said that they have preserved the 
fragments of a history, according to which they derive, their ori- 
gin from Vishnoo. This history terminates with the account of 
a dreadful deluge which swept away a vast portion of mankind. 
In the interior of the island, it is well known that they still observe 
a scrupulous abstinence from every kind of animal food, under 
the old Hindoo idea of a transmigration of souls. They are in no 
respects so strict in the rehgious observances of Mahommed as 
.they appeared to be when the Dutch first established themselves 
on Java ; at that time the natives, including their princes, were in 
the habit of making pilgrimages to Mecca, the birthplace of the 
prophet. But this practice was kept in check as much as possi- 
ble by the Dutch, as was also the admission of Arab mission- 
aries ; not so much from any pious desire to promote Christianity 
in opposition to the Mahommedan faith, but to prevent the natives' 
acquiring a character for sanctity, that might give them an im- 
portance among themselves dangerous to the power and tranquillity 
of the Dutch.* 
But from whatever stock the Javans may have originally sprung 
—whether from the Hindoos, the Tartars, or, according to one of 
their traditions, from a species of ape, their personal appearance 
* "The religion of the Javans is in general Mahommedan, but mingled with super- 
stitious doctrines derived from the ancient pagan worship. The Javans, however, 
are far from bigots to their religion, as other Mahommedans generally are. They 
are mild and tractable by nature, and although they do not easily forget or forgive an 
injury, they would be a quiet, well-disposed people under good laws and a mild gov- 
ernment. The murders and other crimes which are now committed in some places, 
are to be attributed more to the present faulty administration than to any bad dispo- 
sitions in the people. The same maybe remarked of the indolence and indifference 
which now characterize them. Property in the land, with personal and commercial 
freedom and security, would soon render them inixxstxious :'—Hogendorfs Memoir 
en Java, 1800. 
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