706-707. [Aswatáma refuses to give it to the Pandáwa, but is willing to part with it to the unborn grandson of Arjúna, of whom Utári was then pregnant, and whom he directed should be called Parikísit.]
708-709. [Krésna offers to bear witness to the promise; after which Aswatáma gives the pusáka to Bíma, to deliver to the grandson of Arjúna.]
710-714. [Krésna and the Pandáwa again return to Astína, and inform Arjúna's wife of what has happened. Aswatáma remains aloof from the Pandáwa, wandering about in the woods and among the mountains. Yuyútsuh, the only surviving Kuráwa chief, joins and lives with the Pandáwa. All the sons of the Pandáwa having been killed in the battle, without a single descendant being left to be made a king of Astína, excepting the yet unborn son of Abimányu, whom Utári was about to bring forth, Dérma Wangsa, the eldest of the Pandáwa (although all of them had arrived at an age when they should withdraw from the world) is appointed sovereign, until such time as he can be relieved and succeeded by the yet unborn Parikísit. Description of Dérma Wángsa; the beauty of his person; his many good qualities and accomplishments, for which and for his character for justice, wisdom, prudence, &c. he is universally beloved, and his praises celebrated in song.]
715-719. [Dérma Wángsa receives the name and title of Batára Jáya Báya. Under his wise and excellent administration the kingdom of Astína flourishes, crimes are unknown, and the inhabitants are happy. The neighbouring princes of Java, who had survived the war, all acknowledge the authority of the king of Astína, and pay homage to him.]
The musical instruments of the Javans are peculiar. Several of them are necessary to compose a gámelan, set, or band: of these there are several varieties. The gámelan salíndro, which is the most perfect, consists of the several instruments represented in the plate. In the gámelan pélog, the instruments are much larger and louder; the bónang or krómo, has sometimes only ten, and sometimes as many as fourteen notes. Both of these gámelans are employed as accompaniments to the wáyangs. The gámelan míring partakes of the two former, and is employed to accompany the wáyang klítik. In the gámelan múng'gang, called also kódok ng'órek, from its resembling the croaking of frogs, the bónang has fifteen notes, and the kécher resembles the triangle: neither the génder, salentam, sarón, nor chalémpung are included in this set; this gámelan is considered the most ancient, and is played at tournaments, in processions, &c. In the chára báli, or chára wángsul, the rebáb, or viol, is not used: in other respects the instruments are the same as in the salíndro, except that they are as large as in the pélog. The gámelan sekáten, which resembles the pélog, except that the instruments are still larger and louder, is restricted to the use of the sovereign, and seldom played, except on great occasions, as during eight days of the festival of Múlut. The gámelan srúnen is used in processions of state and in war, being properly the martial music of the country, in which, besides the ordinary instruments, a particular gong and trumpets are introduced.
The plate will afford a better idea of the form of these instruments than any verbal description. Most of them resemble the staccáto or harmonica, and the sound is produced by the stroke of a hammer. The gámbang káyu has wooden plates, sixteen or seventeen in number: the gámbang gángsa, of which there are several in each band, has metal plates.
In the génder the metal plates are thin, of a different form, and suspended by strings. The gong, represented (No. 9) in the plate, is usually three feet in diameter. The bónang, kénong, and ketók, are of metal, and are suspended by tightened cords to favour the vibration. The kécher, shewn in the plate, corresponds with the cymbal. The hammers with which the larger instruments are struck are either wound round at the end with cloth, or the elastic gum, in order to soften the sound. The drum is struck with the open hand and fingers only. The chalémpung is a stringed instrument, with from ten to fifteen wires, which are sounded with the finger, after the manner of the harp.
The person who leads the band performs upon the rebáb (No. 17), an instrument which, having a neck, and two strings pitched by pegs, is capable of producing perfect intonation and a variety of sounds, by shortening the strings with the pressure of the finger.
The gámbang káyu (No. 2) is a kind of staccáto, consisting of wooden bars of graduated lengths, placed across a kind of boat, which, when skilfully struck with a sort of mallet, produce pleasing tones, either grave or acute. The lowest and highest sounds of the instrument differ from each other by the interval of three octaves and a major third: the intermediate sounds of each octave from the lowest note are a second, third, fifth, and sixth. This instrument is general throughout the Archipelago, and is frequently played alone, or accompanied only by the drum and a small gong. Ráden Rána Dipúra, a native of Java, who accompanied me to England, played on this instrument several of his national melodies before an eminent composer, all of which were found to bear a strong resemblance to the oldest music of Scotland, the distinctive character of both, as well as of Indian music in general, being determined by the want of the fourth and seventh of the key, and of all the semitones[195]. By reiteration several of the sounds are artfully prolonged much beyond their noted length, which produces an irregularity of measure that might both perplex and offend the educated ear of an accompanying timeist. The rhythm of the sections (from extention and contraction) appears very imperfect.