Old Jack

by William Henry Giles Kingston

As I have already observed, the native princes, the nominal governors of the greater part of the country, are kept in the most perfect subjection by the Company; and the common Javanese are in the most abject state of slavery. The labourer is not only obliged, at fixed periods, to deliver a certain quantity of the fruits of his industry to the regent placed over him on behalf of the Company, for whatever price the latter chooses to allow him, and that price, moreover, paid in goods, which are charged to him at ten times their real value; but he likewise cannot consider what may remain as his own property, not being permitted to do with it what he may think fit, nor allowed to sell it to others at a higher or a lower rate; on the contrary, he is compelled to part with this also, as well as with what the Company claimed of him, to the same petty tyrant, at an arbitrary price, very much below its real value.

The Javanese, like all people living under a torrid zone and a despotic government, are of an indolent disposition, and, it is said, require great excitement to make them work; but the real secret of their idleness is the certainty that they will not be allowed to enjoy the fruits of their labour. Possessing no certain property, they are satisfied with little. The food of those who inhabit the level country is rice and fish; but those who dwell in the mountains use a root called tallas, with salt. This salt they make out of the ashes of wood. Their dwellings are little huts, constructed of bamboos, plastered with mud, and thatched with broad leaves. Their furniture consists of a bedstead made of bamboos, a block on which to pound their rice, two pots for boiling food, and a few cocoa-nut shells for drinking. They seldom live much beyond their fiftieth year. They were converted to Islamism about 1406, when the Arabian Chick-Ibn Molana came over, and, marrying the daughter of the king of Damak, received as her portion the province of Cheribon. Their mosques are generally of wood, and perfectly unadorned; but the tomb and mosque of the said Ibn Molana form a magnificent edifice. They do not place their dead in coffins, but wrap them in linen, and place a stone at the head and another at the foot of the grave, as seats for the two angels who, after their death, examine into their conduct while in this world.

The Javanese are, in general, well-shaped; of a light-brown colour; with black eyes and hair, their eyes being much sunk in the head. They have flattish noses and large mouths. In figure, they are generally thin, though muscular; here and there only a corpulent person being seen. The women, when young, have softer features than the men; but when they grow old, it is difficult to conceive any human being more hideous than they become. A man’s dress consists of a pair of linen breeches, scarcely reaching half-way down the thighs, and over this a sort of shirt of blue or black coarse cotton cloth, which hangs loose below the knee. The hair of the head is bound up in a handkerchief, in the form of a turban. A woman’s dress consists of a coarse chintz cloth, wrapped twice round the body, fastened under the bosom, and hanging down to the calf of the leg; over this is a short jacket, which reaches to the waist. No covering is worn on the head, but the hair is bound up in a fillet, and fastened at the back of the head with large pins. Sometimes chaplets of flowers are worn. Children run about without clothes till they are eight years old. Of course, I have been speaking only of the lower classes. The upper generally dress with great magnificence.

The Javanese are not much employed as domestic servants, but slaves have been brought from the coast of Bengal, Malabar, Sumatra, and other parts, as well as from Celebes, and often become very accomplished servants. They are generally well-treated, and behave well; but their great vice is gaming, to which they are tempted by the Chinese, who keep the gaming-houses, and are much too cunning to allow the poor slaves to regain what they may have lost. This vice, as is the case elsewhere, tempts them to rob their masters and to commit many other crimes, for the sake of supplying themselves with money to continue the practice, or to recover what they have lost.

There are said to be a hundred thousand Chinese in and about Batavia, the whole population amounting only to a hundred and sixty thousand, made up of natives, Armenians, Persians, Arabs, Malays, Negroes, and Europeans. We were witnesses of a curious spectacle one day, when the Chinese assembled from far and near to visit the tombs of their ancestors at Jacatra, near the site of the capital of that ancient kingdom. The road from Batavia to Jacatra is a very fine one. On either side it is adorned with magnificent palaces, occupied by the councillors of the Indies, the principal persons in the Company’s service, and the richest merchants. In front of these palaces, parallel to the causeway, is a navigable canal crossed by bridges very ingeniously constructed of bamboo. On the opposite banks are numerous native villages, which are seen peeping through the cocoa, banana, papaya, and other bushy shrubs, with which every hut is surrounded. Near the ancient capital is the fortress to which the unhappy Prince of Genea withdrew when the Dutch conquered the kingdom, and where he lost his life fighting desperately.

In the Chinese burying-place are great numbers of tombs, with inscriptions specifying the time of the death, age, name, and virtues of those whose remains are within. The tombs are much ornamented, and surrounded with cypresses; and on either side are benches on which the relatives and friends may rest when they come to perform their funeral duties. On the present occasion the tombs were ornamented with wreaths of paper or silk of different colours, and three wax tapers were burning on each. Provisions, also, were either sent or brought, and placed as offerings on the tombs. The most opulent were distinguished from the rest by the richness of their viands—fish, fruit, sweetmeats, and beverages. These provisions, having been left for some hours on the tombs, were partly consumed by the family of the deceased, some was offered to the spectators, and the rest carried away. Roasted fowls, which had been kept whole on purpose, were, however, left behind by some; for what purpose I could not ascertain. These travelled Chinese had got over many of their national prejudices, and very politely offered Newman and me some of the good things; of which we partook with no little satisfaction, though, as my companion observed, a cemetery was an odd place to pic-nic in.

Movable theatres were erected on one side of the cemetery, and temples had been built on the plain below. These temples are large saloons, ornamented with grotesque and antique statues, especially those representing Josi in the midst of his family. Josi, a disciple of Confucius, and afterwards his most confidential friend, rose from the dregs of the people, and became the greatest legislator of his nation. After the death of Confucius, the emperor banished him; so he retired in the bosom of his family to the low state from which he had sprung, where he declared that he enjoyed far more true happiness than he had ever done in his exalted position. To him and his benignant laws the Chinese are indebted for the preservation of their manners, customs, and dress. He is always represented in his retirement after his labours for the public good were concluded. We had here, as Newman observed, an example of the way in which the ancients deified their great men, and learned to worship them.

Opposite each idol were burning red wax tapers, of different sizes, and matches of incense. An altar or table covered with dainties stood in the middle of the temple, surrounded by idols; and in a room behind it was another altar, surmounted with a statue of Josi. An old bonze or priest of venerable aspect, with a long white beard, stood up, reciting some prayers in a low voice. He had on his head a white straw-hat, in the shape of a cone. On the top of it was a little ball of gold, and behind a small tuft of red silk. He kept continually bowing with great regularity, and every now and then let fall a piece of wood like a ruler, which he as often picked up again. He was habited in a tunic of transparent violet silk, with a girdle of twisted silk ornamented with gold; and to it were attached the instruments required for the ceremony. Over this he wore a gold-embroidered robe, with long sleeves turned up at the wrists. It was of violet colour, and a strong material; and, being closed all round, must have been put on over the head. On his breast and back were two plates of rich gold embroidery, representing an eagle, or a bird like one. In his hand he had a large fan, the case of which hung at his girdle like a knife-sheath. His slippers were square at the toes, and embroidered with gold; but his legs were bare.

Under the vestibule of the temple, a hog and a goat, with the horns on, were killed as burnt-offerings, and placed on a stand, with their entrails before them. The interior of the temple was filled with tables covered with preserved fruits and tea, where the bonzes and rich people were sitting eating, drinking, and smoking; but none of the multitude ventured in. Many female bonzes, or bonzesses, were in the vestibule, dressed in violet silk robes, but without embroidery. Their hair was twisted and turned up behind, forming a round tuft, fastened with two diamond-headed pins. These tufts were stuck round with other very rich pins, forming the beams of a most brilliant sun. They took no part that we saw in the ceremonies.

What I have described seemed to be a prelude to the ceremonies. The bonzes, fifteen in number, left the vestry to the sound of shrill, noisy music. They took their stations before the altar, where they made many genuflexions and gestures. They then presented to the high-priest, who had no distinguishing mark, many meats which were on the altar. On this he made various signs, pronouncing some words in a whining tone of lamentation. After having made various libations with several liquors, which he spread over the offerings, the other bonzes replaced them on the altar. One of them then took a card, containing characters, from which he sung. Judging from the loud laughter of part of the auditory, the words seemed to have little analogy to the ceremony. Every bonze held in his hand a box filled with incense matches, one of which he lighted as soon as its predecessor was extinguished. After a repetition of this ceremony, during which the music was never discontinued, they entered the side-room to take refreshment. Having drunk their tea, they went in procession to a second temple, where the same ceremony was gone through. Thence they repaired to the theatre. When they had reached the front of it they halted. “Are they going to act?” said I. “I should not be surprised,” observed Newman. “What are they but actors? The people, you see, have taken no part whatever in the matter.” The chief bonze mounted the theatre alone, and having made many violent gestures and exclamations, again descended, when the performances began. During these ceremonies the gates of the temples, and both sides of the theatres, were filled with common Chinese, a large number of whom were children, playing different games of chance. I never saw people so fond of gaming as they are.