174 LIFE IN JAVA.
bamboo rafts, to serve us for a bridge, were tied together.
Whilst we are waiting, I will take the oppor- tunity of relating a few incidents which were told me previous to leaving Djokdja. I am sensible that such digressions are not always liked, though, to my fancy, in a light work of this description, they sometimes serve as the oar to paddle the canoe when the lively breeze of interest has for a moment subsided into a calm.
Many of my readers have doubtless heard of the stones found occasionally in the heads of serpents, fish, and other animals, which are said to possess the property of curing different diseases, allaying
the pain of stings, &c. A relative of Mr. Z
showed me a dark green one, which had been brilliantly polished, and resembled a malachite. It Avas found, she told me, in the head of a serpent, and had already been the means of effecting many cures. On one occasion a native of the town, whilst
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