224 
M A R R I AG E EXTRA V AG ANCE. 
time could not wheel once without standing shoe- 
less. 
A very free use of powder is affected by ladies 
of colour, which has a ludicrous effect on the 
dark complexion : it looked just as if they had 
been making pastry before leaving home, and 
had inadvertently let some of the flour get on 
their cheeks. Not a few adopt for such occa- 
sions European toilets, and they look very 
pretty indeed in pale blues and pinks. 
One cannot help feeling that much of all this 
festivity is a mistake : the expenses incurred 
are far above the means of the parties respon- 
sible, and the effect on the Amboinese character 
is not beneficial. The value of time and money 
is depreciated in their eyes, and after a week of 
dissipation, and even rioting, they are less in- 
clined than ever for work. 
For some weeks there has been little else in 
the children’s minds than the visit of Santa 
Claus on the evening of the 6th December. We 
all met to receive him in the club-house, a build- 
ing in which there is ample room for such a 
crowded entertainment, Santa Claus came from 
the fort over the plain, in pretty much the same 
garb as Father Christmas, attended by a guard of 
soldiers in torchlight procession. He mounted 
