[143] Such is the name given to a stretch of beach, not far from Tanjoong Priok, the harbour of Batavia, much resorted to, for bathing and advertisement, by that city’s frail sisterhood, and Batavians will appreciate the young naval officer’s bon mot better than did his aunt, a provincial spinster, when at length she fathomed it.
[144] A description, dated October 12, 1858, informs us that the piece of ivory, supposed to have garnished the jaw of Gautama, is about the size of the little finger, of a rich yellow colour, slightly curved in the middle and tapering. The thickest end, taken for the crown, has a hole into which a pin can be introduced; the thinnest end, taken for the root, looks as if worn away or tampered with to distribute fragments of the relic.
[145] Reports and Communications of the Dutch Royal Academy, 1895.
[146] According to another explanation these incompleted pieces of sculpture, found lying about, were rejected in the building because they did not come up to the architect’s requirements.
[147] The Ruin of the Boro Budoor or Vandalism, signed Goena Darma. It is no indiscretion, I believe, to reveal behind this significant pseudonym Father P. J. Hoevenaars, of whose sagacious observations I shall avail myself repeatedly in the following account of the temple’s history.
[148] Invention being stimulated by quasi-historical novels like Gramberg’s Mojopahit.
[149] Vide De Java-Oorlog, commenced by Captain P. J. F. Louw, continued by Captain E. S. de Klerck and published under the auspices of the Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences, vols. i. and ii.
[150] This holds good for western as well as eastern lands and, whether true or false, the story of Napoleon’s dragoons converting the refectorium of Santa Maria delle Grazie at Milan into a stable and adjusting their horses’ mangers against da Vinci’s Cena, expresses very well what cavalry on the warpath are capable of.
[151] The form of the characters, etc., according to Professor Kern, points to about the year 800 Saka (A.D. 878).
[152] See also the Westminster Review of May and The Antiquary of August, 1912.