TRIP TO JAVA.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVIII, Issue 10729, 29 October 1928, Page 2

TRIP TO JAVA.

DIARY OF A GLOBE-TROTTER. NATIVES FORMERLY POLYNESIANS. (Specially Written for the “Gisborne Times” bv Frederick Stubbs, F.R.G.S.) ‘ June 9th..—To-day I left Maeassai for Bali by the s.s. Rumphus. This is the first, Dutch inter-island boat ] have been on, and to me the experience is both novel and interesting. The cabins are spotlessly clean and airy. The saloon is on the main deck and for the sake of coolness open at one end. The dining saloon is below and I am the only white man not Dutch. To an Englishman the food is difficult, but fortunately several of the passengers speak English so I manage to get what is necessary. The stewards are Chinese; the :rew Javanese. The captain, strange to say, is a colored man, probably a half-caste, but evidently capable, and what is really remarkable — all his officers are white men. I suppose such a thing could occur nowhere else, certainly not in U.S.A., Australia. or South Africa. The scene on board ere we sailed is almost inde scribable. The variety of nationality, the gradations of color, the Dutchbig, stout men already drinking abun dant beer; military olficers in immae ulate white and much gold braid; expensively dressed Chinese Javanese wearing gay sarongs; the noisy mob of Dutch and half-caste children ; these made up a seen® which or animation and variety could not asily be surpassed. And, to add t> did general liveliness, the regimental mrgeon was leaving for Holland, and Mie whole Dutch population of "the town had come down with fjfass band and bouquets to see him o'u

THE PIG EXPRESS. Tho boat plying between Bali ana Soerabaya is known as the Pig Express’, as it carries enormous quantities of pigs (pigs being one of the hief exports of Bali), sometimes 1000, each in an oblong bamboo crate. The reader may imagine the tench! Those pigs are small, resembling a large dachshund with their short legs and bellies v touching the ground—a disgusting animal! A more agreeable inciucnt was afforded by a young naturalist who had been to the Celebes to catch snakes on behalf of a firm which deals in them. He showed me asleep in a l>ox, a huge python. 21 feet long and weighing 20Oibs. He told me that it had one huge meal (if I remember aright, it was a goaC, and would re '!uire no more food for months. June' IGth.—Early this morning we arrived off Boeleleng, the Balinese port. But there is no harbor and we have to land in sampans. When the sea is rough one cannot land a.t all. Fortunately for me the sea is smooth, and the representative of tho tourist agency comes on board and conveys mo (the. only European passenger) ashore and to the Government Rest House a.t Singapore, a town two and ahalf miles distant. There is no hotel. It was. strange to land at a port where there are no hotel-run nors and no taxi drivers soliciting custom. Tho rest house accommodates ten guests, each of whom has a large, airy bedroom and verandah and (he use of an un'nclosed dining hall. The food is good enough bid provocative of indigestion: this - attendance excellent: the washing geo i and cheap, an article seldom costing more than a penny or twopence. The island of Bali, which lies off the East Coast of Java, is one of the most beautiful and interesting in tho world, with an. area of 2000 square miles; mountainous: volcanic; once

geologically united to Java, with a population of 1,000,000, of whom about 200 are Europeans (Dutch and half-caste; few of unmixed blood) The Western portion of tho island is extremely mountainous arid almost uninhabited; the southern portion, which is the most attractive, is unfortunately. swampy and unhealthy. Irrigation is common wherever is eultjvation. The small Balinese pony is sen everywhere, a splendid little animal that may tie bought for £3. It is curious flint very, few marcs arcused for draught : nearly all are stallions. The buffalo does the field work and cartage. There arc tigers m tho western jungles and monkeys in tlie south, wild hoars, , jackals, panthers, file rhinoceros is also to he found'. The Balinese resemble flic Javanese, with differences. Originally they wore Polynesians, hut. at the end of the 15th century, or possibly still earlier, the Hindu's came and converted them to Brahminism ■ then ,later, the Portuguese came at the end of the 16th century the Dutch, who officially annexed the isand in 1855. Half a century of struggle with native rulers ensued, hut the Dutch would stand no nonsense, and in 1910 Bali was bombardxl and the last of the rajahs de nosed. This Jvajali, whoso tomb I visited, was so mortified that he ommitted suicide along with hi* wives.

WHERE THERE’S NEITHER CROSS NOR CRESCENT. This morning I called on the res'lent (Governor), who lives in a spacious mansion with large grounds and finely decorated gateway. On presenting my credentials, lie received rmeourteously and arranged for my he* ng taken to see some of the princinal sights. Accordingly, in the afternoon, the Asst.-Resident, who acts is magistrate and has the supervision >f 200,000 people, took me to sec ;ome of the old Hindu temples. These are not to be compared with those of India, but are quite interesting and exhibit some, fine carving. On one 1 was amazed to see a modern bicycle depicted. The explanation is that the neople arc still building and embclishing their temples. The whole lopulntion is Hindu. The Mohammedans exterminated Hinduism in Java but failed in Bali, where many rich Hindus fled. Neither the Cross nor i.he Crescent has secured any foothold here. 1 heard of neither mission nor -missionary. But here, as in Italy, He., it is claimed that the lava-flow stopped bv Divine intervention at the walls of a Hindu temple. The people engage m abundant prayer* and feasts and eat no beef, but n> other ways are not strict in the prao- ' ice of their religion; they vvfir eat buffalo, c.g., and do not pay much regard to caste. NATIVE CREMATIONBut they cremate, and a cremation is regarded as the greatest sight m the country, people flockiiig to it from every quarter. It- does not often occur on account of the exnense involved, and the deceased are sometimes kept an unconscionable time waiting until enough money has been raised. It is not only the welfare of the corpse that has to lie considered but tire feasts that must be provided lor the living. Pending the cremation, the dead are either buried in the interim or placed in a building, or they may even be allowed to wither up in the house. As may be imagined, this frequently causes an in 7 tolerable odour, and proclaims the presence of death to every passer-by. A tower of bamboo wicker-work having at length been erected, the bodies of the deceased are enclosed m large wooden images or cows, lions, etc., according to the caste of the deceased, and then by means of sloping planks are conveyed to the upper part of the tower SUTTEE WIDOW WHO FLED. The next- ceremony is the. consecration of the- dead by the priest, who plentifully sprinkles .them with holy water, and uses a variety of prayers

and incantations to ensure the spirit’s entrance into paradise. Human nature is very much the same everywhere. After these and many other rites have been observed, the bodies are at length burned and the ashes collected thrown into the nearest stream. Thc-y really should be thrown into the sea, but this is not always convenient, so the relatives throw them into a river in hope that- they will thus be conveyed to the ocean—and, besides, it, saves the expense of a carriage. Unless the remains are made somehow to vanish from the earth the regeneration of the departed would not be possible. Formerly Suttee was practised, widows being burned on the funeral-pyre of : their deceased husband, but this practice has been put an end to by the Government. the Inst suttee taking place in 1903. At Singaradji I made the acquaintance of Fatima, the widow of one of the, rajahs. When her husband died, she was hut 17 and the lorriblo custom was still in vogue, so "’atima, who loved life, fled to Java •<nd placed herself under the protection of the Dutch. Now she is back n Bali, doing a thriving biPsness in lurios.