348 MANNER OE LIFE OF THE EUROPEANS IN BANKA, 
best to entertain his company. On Sundays there was usually a great as¬ 
sembly at the Residents, where all the civil and military officers appeared. 
The table of an East Indian gourmand displa ys a great variety of dishes 
and the produce of all the four quarters of the globe is represented. The 
native food however is the best for the European who has overcome the 
difficulties arising from the change of climate. It consists chiefly of 
rice, fowls and fish. The rice is boiled, the water afterwards thrown away 
and the dry rice is taken with curry made of fowls or fishes, and mixed with 
various ingredients, viz., Spanish pepper, curcuma, aignous, drassi, ground 
cocoanuts, <8rc. The natives carry the meat with t ieir fingers to the mouth, 
which they do with great dexterity by using the fisrt, the little and the 
ring-finger. The Chinese eat with two sticks and are not behind the Ma¬ 
lays in dexterity. The Europeans generally have a blue or green hemisphe¬ 
rical glass before them on the table, filled with water and some leaves of 
the orange tree, for washing the hands during dinner. The Chinese are 
seated round the table like the Europeans, the native sits down on the 
ground covered with mats. It is strange that in this country where the 
coffee grows, the latter is not used to a greater extent. Chinese and Ma¬ 
lays usually take tea. 
For a stimulus to the stomach, strong spices are used, which burn the 
mouth of the European not accustomed to them. They consist chiefly of 
Spanish pepper cither whole (Xembok) or ground (Sambal) or preserved 
in vinegar. The dishes are numerous, and are ingeniously arranged on the 
table by the Malay servants. The enormous quantity of food set on the table 
is alone sufficient to satisfy the hunger. Among the natives a strange ha¬ 
bit prevails of expressing their gratification during dinner, which they do 
by loudly smacking their lips and by belching, laying the hand at the same 
lime on the stomach. They have no idea that an European can find such 
behaviour disgusting. However, we must testify to their having generally 
a good sense of decency, and often they may be heard saying, if an Euro¬ 
peans takes improper liberties, tt ini orang Uurang adjar,” Qhis person has 
been defectively taught.) 
The dress of the Europeans is light and easy in accordance with the cli¬ 
mate. A white jacket and pantaloons and a straw hat are sufficient for ap¬ 
pearance in the public. In populous places however great luxury is indulg¬ 
ed in, and the European, notwithstanding the climate, parades in cloth. 
If business is concluded, the clothes are stripped off at home, and the per¬ 
son is covered only with an easy shirt Qcabaya), and with Wide panta¬ 
loons (tjelana tidor) which is the common undress, 
