TOUR FROM SOURAB AYA, THROUGH KEDIRI, &C. 199 
ous Siri box, the Regent produced, what to him at least 
appeared to be a great treasure, viz. a bit of old rust-worn 
iron that had formerly been a kind of knife, and to which a 
nice new orange-wood handle had been fixed, and a bit of 
the blade rubbed to a sharp edge. This had been picked up 
amongst the crumbling rubbish of an old wall near the graves 
of some of his ancestors, and is of course a highly prized 
relic. It stands a good chance of going down to posterity 
along with the Cavalry Sword, as an heir-loom in the fami¬ 
ly of the Regents of Kediri. In his younger day, the Regent 
had spent a good deal of time to the westward, when he 
had learnt the Sunda language, which he still retains, very 
fluently, and at which we had a spell before we parted. 
On our way back from this visit, we stopped to see the 
menagerie, which is a large strong wooden cage, roofed over, 
and standing on the bank of the river. It contained one 
large fierce tiger royal and two or three spotted ones. As 
his highness was lolling very indecently with his pos¬ 
teriors cooling against the bars of the cage, I took the 
liberty of giving him a poke with my stick, to which in¬ 
dignity he responded with a most furious and awe-inspiring 
howl, but a steady gaze on his fiery eye soon made him 
blink and roll his head aside; the tiger is easily stared out of 
countenance, and yet it would require some nerve to do so, 
if face to face with him in his native jungle. 
Proceeding along the main street of the town we stopped 
again, near the centre of it, to inspect the Astana Gedong or 
an ancient burying place of the nobility of Kediri. Admit¬ 
tance is gained to the place through a gate-way built in an 
old fashion, and composed of regularly hewn and squared 
trachyte rock, such as are used at the Hindu temples, some 
of which may have been plundered to supply these materials. 
On entering, in front of the gateway, is a platform about 8 
or 10 feet high, which formerly served for the foundation of 
a mosque, which has long ago disappeared. It has been a 
work of some care as may be still seen. It was built up 
all round with a softish white stone, ornamented with plain 
grooving and rosettes, but has now in many places crumbled 
down. At the back or western side of the platform are 
numerous graves, set round with bricks and stone and 
quietly reposing under the old Kamboja trees (Plumeria 
accuminata) whose yellowish flowers strewed the otherwise 
clean swept ground. The high nobility repose at the north 
west angle of the former mosque, and are covered over with 
little wooden houses placed in enclosures the doors of which 
