XVII[1]
HIGHLY Honoured Dr. Adrian!:
For a long time I have wanted to write to you, but several things, among them the indisposition of almost all of my family, have prevented me.
Now that the whole kaboepatin, great and small, is again rejoicing in excellent health, I shall not allow this letter to remain any longer unwritten. It has been in my thoughts so long, and doubtless you have expected it as well. Forgive me for the delay.
First of all I want to send my hearty thanks for your amiable letter to my sister Roekmini, and for your kindness in sending the books.
The three of us were made so happy by them, and are still for that matter. We think it is splendid that you should think of us. We also think and speak of you and of your Toradjas,[1] of your work, and of everything that we discussed that evening at the Abendanons'. The hours that we spent in your company are among the most delightful memories of our visit to Batavia.
We hope with our whole hearts that will not be our only meeting, but that we may see you often again. What a pleasure it would be to us, if some day we might bid you welcome to Japara.
We have much sympathy for the work of the Christian missionaries in Dutch India, and we admire the nobility of heart of those who have established themselves in the most remote stretches of wilderness, far
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