real, but the numerous Princes were certainly covered with brilliants and precious stones; one had a huge ruby suspended round his neck, although the Emperor is poor-say £150,000 a year all told. I do not fancy he pays high wages, and all his people are at his beck and call, and cringe before him; but I have no doubt he has other means of getting money out of them, so he really may have a larger income. He has one lawful wife, but I did not see the Empress. Two of his little girls held a gold spittoon for him; and one little fellow about two years old, without anything on, came in during the last dance. Judging from the way he caresses his children he must be fond of them. I feel almost sorry for him, for he can hardly call his soul his own. For instance, every letter he receives has to go through the Residency before he gets it. He cannot see anybody without some Dutch official being there; he cannot take a drive without leave, or go to the theatre; in fact, he is a State prisoner. The Dutch are afraid of him, as he hates them; and if anything goes wrong at Acheen, I believe Dutch rule will be at an end here. It is not likely it will; but if we are over a crater in India, the Dutch are certainly on one here. Prince Mangkow-Negoro is friendly to the Dutch, and is sending some of his troops to Acheen, and he acts as an offset against the unfriendliness of the Emperor. When the Sultan was drinking to the health of the King of Holland, I do not fancy that the former entertained any friendly feeling towards the latter. The Dutch certainly treat the native Princes differently from what we do; everything is force with them. The déjeuner was in Dutch style, and, consequently, we had cold soup, &c. The whole affair lasted six hours. The Emperor was very dignified in his manner; and when we bowed our adieux he waved his red pocket handkerchief in truly regal style. I forgot to mention that a cock was kept in a cage near his Imperial master; and every now and then, in the midst of the monotonous music and graceful movements of the dancers, gave a very spasmodic attempt at a

crow.

AUG.

A JAVANESE PRINCE.

59

Friday, 22nd.-This evening at six I went to call on Prince Mangkow-Negoro, accompanied by the Assistant-Resident, who acted as interpreter; he received us in a building something similar to the pavilion of yesterday, but it was not so ornate. He was most civil and took us over some splendid stables that he is building, and also showed us his Harem, but the birds had flown, and I had only a glimpse of one en passant. It was richly furnished-luxurious couches, and some fine bronzes, &c.; but amidst all this grandeur were common prints. He took us into a small room which might have been his wife's boudoir—a large looking-glass on the floor and a portrait of his favourite wife. Javanese women are not beautiful. The Prince himself is very ugly, not nearly so good looking or aristocratic as the Sultan; he had on to-day a sarong with white vest and shabby alpaca coat, with the inevitable pocket-handkerchief on his head, with two ends sticking out at the back like donkey's ears; no stockings, and bare feet stuck into small slippers. He gives a fête on Sunday, and asked me to come; all the people at his fête are dressed decently and sit down like rational beings. It is only before the Emperor that the Princes and swells have to appear in undress. He is immensely wealthy-about a million guldens a month I was told; but this sounds almost impossible. He has large coffee and sugar estates, and this year he has sold 60,000 piculs of coffee alone, for which Government kindly give him twenty-two gulden a picul, and then sell it for fifty-three. He is far richer than the Emperor; but of course the latter is nominally Sovereign of Java, and does not own coffee mills, &c. The Prince has a battery of Artillery and one thousand troops. I have been told that he could raise thirty thousand, but don't vouch for the truth of the latter statement. I called round on my return upon the Resident to thank him for his civility in enabling me to see the fête of the Sultan, &c.

Saturday, 23rd.-Left Solo at ten minutes to seven and reached Samarang at twenty-six minutes to twelve; took ticket for Singapore and then went to the hotel; and a very poor

specimen it is, even for Java. Samarang lies very low and is a most uninteresting town, and very unhealthy I should fancy. In evening went to the Club Amictia, as it is called; Harmonie in Batavia, and Concordia in Sourabaya.

Sunday, 24th.-Spent the day quietly; very close and oppressive.

ALTHOUGH, as you will see by the heading, I am not yet out of Java, still, as I sail if all is well to-morrow morning for Singapore, I think it just as well to write you a line while I am on terra firma, and not trust to restless old Neptune being on his good behaviour; because if woman is fickle-what shall we say about the ocean? I have enjoyed my six weeks tour in Java very much, if it had not been for the wretched living, and have seen a good deal-in fact, East, West, and Middle portions of the Island, as you will see by my journal. I visited all varieties of scenes and places, from the craters of Bromo and Tankanan Praha to the richly cultivated plains, and the three principal towns of the island; and last but not least, thanks to the kindness of the Resident at Solo, I have seen a fête of Z. H. den Soesoehoenan; it was a brilliant affair, owing to the variety of their costumes, or the want of them. All, except Europeans and his three uncles, had to prostrate themselves before His Majesty; there must have been three to four hundred Princes of the blood present, related to His Majesty by his numerous marriages; he has about forty-five children and forty wives. All the Princes were bare to the waist; then there were a number of troops, who, if their drill was not first-rate, their dresses were brilliant-besides 3,000 to 4,000 people scattered

about in groups; and on one side we had a glimpse of a long broad corridor that led to the Harem, and in the dim distance could be seen groups of dusky beauties, brilliantly attired, squatting round the red and gold pillars that supported a roof carved and fretted like a Chinese temple. We had a grand déjéu ner, and before and after Bayaderes (or dancing girls), splendidly attired, performed before us; and though their movements are rather monotonous, there is a certain softness and quiet grace about their supple forms that is very far removed from the "dashing style" of the ballet at home. I wish that some of my English friends could have been here to see the Emperor as a central figure, with his dress sparkling with jewels surrounded by his half-naked courtiers, his showy if not warlike troops, his numerous and strangely-attired attendants, and last but not least, as regards numbers, the 2,000 to 3,000 of his subjects who were sitting down outside the Pendoppo; as, although it is not a sight calculated to edify one, in fact, it is lowering in more senses than one, still it is a novelty for a European to see thousands of men and women in prostrate adoration of a man, as if he had been a god, and it only shews what complete ascendancy a human being, coupled with superstition, may have over a number of uneducated mortals. Talk of kissing the Pope's toe, why I do not think the Javanese would ever have reached the throne of the Emperor to have kissed his; they would have been so overcome by the condecension of Den Soesoehoenan, that they would have fainted at the bare prospect of what, after all, is only a "bootless" honour; in fact, I do not think judging from appearances (which they say are deceptive) that they would have dared to touch his Majesty with the end of a barge pole. The more I see the less do I like the Dutch way of governing. It is simply one of oppression and trying to keep the people as much in ignorance as possible. Only a few missionaries are allowed in Java to try and educate or convert the natives. The Dutch perhaps argue that the Spanish and Portuguese Colonies are not the better for the numerous priests you meet in them,