Travels in the East Indian archipelago

by Albert S. Bickmore

In the Sunda districts of Java very good music is produced by an instrument which consists of a series of small bamboo tubes of different lengths, so placed in a rude framework of wood that they can slightly vibrate, and strike the sides of the frame when it is shaken in the hand.

On the peninsula of Malacca a kind of gigantic Æolian harp is made, by removing the partitions within a bamboo, thirty or forty feet long, and making a row of holes in the side as in a flute. This is placed upright among the dense foliage, and in the varying breeze gives out soft or heavy notes, until the whole surrounding forest seems filled with the harps of fairies.

All these natives are passionately fond of music, and perhaps in nothing has their inventive genius been so well displayed as in their peculiar musical instruments, which have been brought to the greatest perfection in Java, where they are so elaborate that a set of eighteen or twenty pieces, for a complete band, costs from six hundred to one thousand dollars. A number of these were taken to England by Sir Stamford Raffles, and carefully examined by a competent judge, who expressed himself “astonished and delighted with their ingenious fabrication, splendor, beauty, and accurate intonation.”

While we were watching the slow, graceful dance, dinner was prepared, and we were summoned from the veranda to an open room in the rear. The wife of the rajah was the only lady at the table, and, as all the princes and notables of the other villages were present, the number of guests who were ready to take seats with us was not small. Our bill of fare was sufficient to satisfy the most fastidious epicure: for substantial diet the neighboring forests had furnished us with an abundance of venison and the meat of the wild boar, and the adjoining bays had yielded several kinds of nice fish. All was prepared in an unexceptional manner, and the rich display of pine-apples, mangostins, dukus, and several kinds of bananas was finer than many a European prince could set before his guests. The process of demolishing had fully begun, when the dark beauties, who had been dancing before the house, came in, and ranged themselves round the table. My first impression was, that they had come in to see how Europeans eat, and I only refrained from hinting to that effect to the Resident on my right, because he had already smiled to see my surprise at our novel reception, and besides, I was anxious not to appear to be wholly ignorant of their odd customs. Soon they began to sing, and this, I thought to myself, is probably what is meant by a sumptuous banquet in the East, and, if so, it well deserves the name. As the song continued, one after another took out a handkerchief of spotless white, and folding it into a triangular form, began to fan the gentleman in front of her. This is indeed Eastern luxury, I said to myself, and while I was wondering what would come next, the damsel behind the Resident reached forward and gave him a loud kiss on his cheek. “That was intended as an appetizer I presume?” Natuurlijk, “Of course,” he replied, and I leaned back in my chair to give way to a hearty laugh, which I had been trying for a long time to restrain, when suddenly I was astonished by a similar salutation on the lips! It was done so quickly that I had no time to recover from my bewildering surprise, and coolly explain that such was not the custom in my land. Instead of my laughing at the Resident’s expense, the whole party laughed at mine; but my confusion was dispelled by the assurance of all that even the governor-general himself had to submit to such treatment when he came to inspect these islands. Besides, I was made aware that the fault was largely my own, and that, when I leaned backward to laugh, the fair one behind me had misinterpreted the movement as a challenge (which she certainly seemed not loath to accept). At every village we had to run a similar gantlet, and I must confess that several times it occurred to me that the youngest member of the party certainly received his share of such tender attention, and that many of these beauties, nona itum, were determined to improve their present opportunity for fear that they might never again have the privilege of kissing a gentleman with a white face.

The Resident’s duties, while on a tour of inspection, consist chiefly in visiting and examining the schools, of which there is one in every village on this island, except at one place where two kampongs, which are near each other, have one in common. On Saparua also thirteen out of the sixteen villages are each provided with a school, and on Haruku eleven villages are supplied with six schools, so distributed over the island as to be accessible to all. The facilities, therefore, afforded by the Dutch Government to these natives to acquire a good common education are far better than they are in many civilized lands. The teachers are all well paid. Those on this island are all natives. They are remarkably awkward, probably because they feel dressed up; for, on such an important occasion as the present, every one who holds a government office must appear in a black suit. Again and again I found it required great self-command to keep from smiling when it was expected I should look very grave and dignified; for here, on the outskirts of civilization, I beheld all the fashions of Europe, apparently for the last two hundred years. All the petty officials wore dress coats, some with tails almost on the ground, and others with sleeves so long that you could scarcely see the ends of the fingers, and still others with the waists so small that they seemed to be in corsets. Some of these coats had narrow collars, and had evidently been worn by the most dainty exquisites, while others had lapels broad enough for the outer coat of a coachman. As soon as the inspection is over these precious articles are carefully rolled up and thoroughly smoked, to prevent their being destroyed by the ants. They are then placed away till the next year, when they are again unrolled and at once put on, entirely filled with wrinkles, and giving out the strongest odors.

On entering the school-house the Resident is greeted with a welcome that has been prepared long before by the teacher and committed to memory by a small boy, who now steps forward, and, stretching out both arms at full length, repeats the oration at the top of his voice, occasionally emphasizing certain sentences by making a low bow, but taking care all the time not to bend his extended arms. This ordeal finished, the children join in singing a psalm, all keeping time by striking the forefinger of the right hand with the palm of the left. It was most amusing to see the little ones perform their part of the ceremony. The four classes, into which the schools are divided, are now successively examined. The two younger classes in reading and spelling the Malay language, written in the Roman alphabet, according to the Dutch rules of pronunciation. The two older classes are likewise examined in these branches, in penmanship, and the simple rules of arithmetic.

As I visited school after school I became more and more surprised at the general proficiency of the children, and I am certainly of the opinion that they would compare very favorably with the children of the same ages in our own country districts. This remarkable promise in childhood is not, however, followed by a corresponding development during youth and manhood.

The population[31] of these islands is divided into the following kinds: first, that of Europeans, which also includes the mestizoes, or, as they are always called here, “half-castes,” who are of all shades of mixture, from those who are as white as Europeans to those who are as brown as the natives. Outside of the city of Amboina nine-tenths of the so-called Europeans are really mestizoes. The second class is composed of those natives who are not required by the government to work in the clove-gardens. They are named by the Dutch “burgers.” The third class includes the negroijvolken or “villagers,” and the fourth comprises those who were slaves, and are mostly natives of Papua. The “villagers,” or common people, have paid no direct tax, but have been required instead to work a certain number of days in the clove-gardens belonging to the government, and also sell to the government all they raise themselves at a certain price. Now the Dutch are changing this indirect mode of taxation into a direct mode, and requiring the able-bodied men to pay one guilder each this year, but not obliging them to work so many days in the gardens. Next year they are to pay two guilders and work a less number of days, and so on till the fifth year, when they will pay five guilders, and be entirely free from any other tax.

After the examination of the school has been finished, all the able-bodied men are called together before the rajah’s house, and the Resident explains to them this change, and what will be expected of them during the coming year. At present each village is obliged to furnish men at a certain price to carry the chair of every official and of every one who, like myself, has an order for such a privilege from the head government at Batavia. In four years from this time each official will be obliged to make a separate trade at every village with his chair-bearers, and these people are so indolent, and so given to demanding the most extravagant prices, that I fear the chief effect of this change will be to diminish even the little travel and trade there are now, unless the present system shall be continued till large numbers of horses are introduced.