Among these, the gentlemen who took part in it will long have a special recollection of a hunting party, which, owing to the great interest taken by all classes of the community near the seat of action, abounding in antelopes and wild hogs, became ultimately a regular ovation and popular festival. At various points arches covered with leaves were erected, flags fluttered to the breeze on every side, and all along our path the inhabitants, gaily attired, formed a dense array lining the road; while the evening was whiled away in the elegantly furnished mansion of a Chinese, the Mayor of his district, by Javanese dancing-girls, who performed a variety of national dances to the monotonous, lugubrious sound of the gamelong and other musical instruments, after which there was a comedy, the whole winding up with Chinese fire-works on the grandest scale.
Another splendid entertainment was got up in honour of the Novara Expedition by the military "Concordia" society, in their large, handsome assembly-room in Weltevreden. The dancing-hall was tastefully fitted up, adorned with blue and green hangings and parti-coloured flags, while over the entrance was suspended a portrait of our Emperor. In the background of the saloon there was set up in front of a transparency an elegant boat, with an Austrian flag at the gaff, and
carrying a cannon crowned with flowers and nautical emblems, all artistically designed and executed. The stewards all wore red and white ribbons round their dress, while the rich attire of the ladies consisted principally of stuffs in the Austrian colours. When the commander of the Expedition entered the saloon with his staff, the band struck up the Austrian National Hymn. The whole festivity went off most agreeably, and the majority of the company, which numbered about 800 guests, kept it up till daybreak. Both Dutch and Austrian officers vied with each other in making this a truly fraternal feast. Still as the band played on, there seemed no end to the fun and frolic, and one pair of joyous spirits suddenly bethought them of the droll idea of hauling the cannon "with all its honours thick upon it" through the apartment, with a not less frolicsome comrade sitting astride it, singing and shouting! Unluckily, during this peregrination one of the Dutch officers fell under the wheel, and had his thigh broken near the knee. The unfortunate had to be conveyed to the hospital forthwith, where for weeks he could ruminate upon the consequences of a moment's misplaced revelry. This gentleman, singularly enough, had just retired home and gone to bed, when a couple of his comrades insisted on his accompanying them, amid much cheering and noise, back to the apartment, where the accident happened to him!
One remarkable character in Batavia, whose acquaintance we only made during the latter days of our stay, is Raden
Saleh, a Javanese of high birth, and princely descent, who, born in 1816 at Djokjokarta in the interior of the island, was at the expense of the Dutch Government brought to Europe when a boy of 14, where he lived for a long time at the Hague, and afterwards in Dresden and Paris, turning his attention chiefly to painting, and who, after 23 years' absence, had returned to Java shortly before our arrival. Raden Saleh, who speaks and writes several European languages with fluency, draws a not inconsiderable sum yearly from the Colonial Government, by way of remuneration for pictures which he is from time to time commissioned to paint for Government House. At the period of our visit the artist was busy engaged in executing for the King of Holland a large oil-painting, representing a stag-hunt on the plain of Mundschul, in the Preanger Regency, at the foot of the Malabar range. The composition, the landscape, the aerial perspective, the attitudes and grouping of the mounted huntsmen, gave evidence of uncommon talent, which unfortunately, however, has not been cultivated to that extent as to enable him to stamp all his performances with the impress of artistic perfection. Raden Saleh cherishes a warm feeling for Germany, which even his placid, delightful residence among the Eden-like landscapes of his own native land has not been able to weaken. "I owe so much to Germany," he would say to us; "my thoughts and my feelings ever revert to Germany!" It seemed that in his case, as in that of the young negro prince, Aquasie Boachi, of the
Gold Coast, considerations of health were the main reason for his return to the Dutch East Indies.
The last days of our stay at Batavia we devoted to an inspection of various public institutions. First of all we carefully examined the barracks, which present several points of special interest. Major Smits was so kind as to accompany us over the extensive grounds, in which were at the time some 800 men. The soldiers are all volunteers, and consist of about 250 whites, and 600 of the various coloured races of the Malay Archipelago. The white troops sleep in beds, the coloured upon wooden settles covered with mosquito-nets. Each soldier is allowed to have his wife beside him, and it is affirmed that this extraordinary practice tends to make them more orderly and regular, by accustoming them more speedily to life in the barrack, which thus becomes for them a sort of small town! The women for their part prove highly serviceable as cooks, washerwomen, vendors of edibles, &c., and manage a sort of small market for each company, where the soldier can find everything he may require for satisfying his usually very moderate wants.
Major Smits ordered a number of the soldiers, representatives of the most important Malay types, to be submitted to a series of anthropometrical measurements, and made a present to the Expedition of a number of objects of ethnographical interest.
In company with Dr. Steenstra Toussaint, an ardent and
amiable companion, we visited the various prisons, and the Loar-Badang,[66] of evil repute, which will be discussed in the medical section of the Novara publications.