The Pamphleteer/Volume 8/A Discourse delivered to the Literary and Scientific Society at Java
A DISCOURSE
DELIVERED TO THE
Literary and Scientific Society
AT JAVA,
ON THE 10th OF SEPTEMBER, 1815.
BY THE
HON. THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES,
PRESIDENT.
LONDON.
1816.
A DISCOURSE,
&c. &c.
Gentlemen,
A series of domestic afflictions, alas! but too well known to you all, have followed in such quick succession the melancholy event which it was long since my duty to communicate, that, until the present hour, I have felt myself every way unequal to the trying task of announcing to you the death of our late noble and enlightened patron, the Earl of Minto; an event so unlooked for and so painfully calamitous in its immediate effects, that, to use the energetic language of Mr. Muntinghe, "it obliged us, as it were, to close our lips before the Almighty!"
Strong, and extensive in their operation, were the ties which attached that noble person to this colony—to the whole community of Java—and especially to our society! A tender and parental care for the island of Java was publicly declared on different occasions, and proofs of it were received. The European community was saved by his humanity, and on his responsibility; for the native administration, principles on which the whole of the present structure has been raised, were laid down; and in every instance, the wish was evinced, to employ the successes of war as much in favor of the conquered as of the conqueror.
It would not be proper, on this occasion, to enter into particulars; but who does not gratefully recollect the general tenor of his Lordship's conduct and demeanour while in Java, administering assistance with his own hands to the maimed and wounded among the enemy; setting, in the midst of his victories, an example of moderation, and of simplicity of manners; never missing an opportunity of doing even a momentary good; and conciliating, by these means, the mind of the public in such a degree, that enemies were rendered friends, and that the names of conqueror and subduer were lost in those of protector and liberator.
Having paid this humble tribute to the memory of our departed patron, I proceed to notice those scientific and literary acquisitions which have either resulted from the inquiries set on foot by the Society, or have otherwise fallen under its observation, since I had last the honor of publicly addressing you.
Banca.—At that period, Dr. Horsefield had just commenced, under the instructions of government, his laborious researches in Banca. We have since seen those exertions brought to a close; and I have to report a collection of the most complete information regarding the position, geological structure and natural productions of that important island: the state of society has not been omitted in that investigation; and satisfactory data have been furnished from which to estimate the present condition of its inhabitants, as well as to deduce plans for their progress and advancement in civilization and happiness.
It is only during the late periods of the European establishments, that Banca has attracted notice. The discovery of the tin-mines about the twelfth year of the last century, first gave it celebrity; but we can only date the commencement of scientific investigation, or European control, from the time of its cession to the British government, in 1812. The Dutch government, it is true, set on foot, at different periods; and some account of the population and produce of the country is contained in the earlier volumes of our transactions; but those views being confined to commercial objects, and the despotic sway of the native government of Palambang still remaining absolute, but little was known of the country, beyond the extent of the produce in tin which it could annually export.
In aid of the geographical description, and to point out the places referred to in the descriptions of the mines, and in the detail of the mineralogical and botanical remarks, Dr. Horsefield has constructed the outlines of a map, on which are laid down the principal rivers, the mountains and ridges of hills, with the settlements of the Malays and Chinese, and the local subdivisions adopted by the original inhabitants.
After completing a detailed geographical account of the island, and furnishing statistic tables of the population and produce, Dr. Horsefield proceeds to a narrative of the mineralogical appearances, as explanatory of the constitution of the mines, and of the geological history of the country.
On the mineralogical constitution of Banca, he observes, that the direction of the island being from north-west to south-east, it follows, not only the direction of Sumatra and the Malayan peninsula, but also the great chain of Asiatic mountains, one of the many branches of which terminates in Ceylon, while another, traversing Arakan, Pegu, the Malayan peninsula, and probably Sumatra, sends off an inferior range through Banca and Billiton, where it may be considered to disappear.
The elevated parts of Banca are observed to have the same constitution as the great continental chain, being composed principally of granite; after which occurs a species of rock which Dr. Horsefield terms red iron-stone, extensively distributed in situations of secondary elevation, in single rocks, or in veins covering large tracts of country. Tracts composed of this rock are bounded by alluvial districts, which are again subdivided into undulating hills, gradually rising on others of apparently prior formation, and such as are low and level, of recent origin, and bordering on the mouths of the rivers. Those districts which, occurring in juxta-position with the primitive portions, fill that space between these latter and the veins of red iron-stone, or, again, between those and the alluvial parts, are stratified; and the strata uniformly horizontally arranged.
It is through these horizontal strata that the tin-ore is represented to be disseminated; and, as far as has hitherto been remarked, it appears to be either immediately under the surface, or at no great distance from it.
Another section of the report contains a view of the tin-mines, exhibiting a general enumeration of those worked at present, or in former periods; with an account of the process of mining, and the economy of the mines.
The process of mining in Banca is remarkable for its simplicity. It consists in an excavation, of a square or oblong form, made by digging perpendicularly to the beds or strata containing the ore, and in a proper application of the water to facilitate the labors of the miners, and the washing of the ore. There is no necessity in Banca, as in countries where the metal lies concealed in deep veins, to have recourse to difficult operations, or expensive machinery; and the process, indeed, requires so little previous instruction, that it is mostly performed by persons whose only qualification is a robust constitution. A favorable spot being selected, the pit is sketched out, a canal conducted from the nearest rivulet, and then, the miners excavate the soil until they arrive at the stratum containing the ore, which is next deposited in heaps near the water, so as to be placed conveniently for washing: the aqueduct is lined with the bark of large trees, and, a stronger current being produced by the admission of more water, the heaps are thrown in, and agitated by the workmen; the particles of the ore subsiding through their gravity, and those of common earth being carried away by the current.
When a sufficient quantity of ore is thus accumulated, the process of smelting commences:—this is also very minutely and accurately described by Dr. Horsefield: it is unnecessary to observe, that almost all the operations connected with the process of mining and refining of metal are performed by the Chinese.
In his botanical pursuits, Dr. Horsefield has been peculiarly successful, his descriptions comprising a collection of upwards of five hundred plants, of which sixteen appear to be of doubtful genera.
An account of the inhabitants, their mode of life and occupations, the state of agriculture, and the history of the different settlements, is introduced into this valuable report, which I hope will shortly appear in print, under the patronage of the East-India Company. In this expectation, and that I may not diminish the interest excited in its favor, or exceed the latitude with which I am invested, by more extensive drafts on the valuable information which it contains, I shall close these notices of Banca with a short account of the extent and character of the population, as it appeared to Dr. Horsefield, at an early period of the establishment of European influence.
The inhabitants of Banca consist of Malays, Chinese, and indigenes, of whom the latter are subdivided into Orang Gunung (men of the mountains) or Mountaineers; and Rayads or Orang Laut (men of the sea) or sea-people. The Malays are few in number, of a peaceable but indolent disposition, and of little importance in the affairs of the island. The Chinese in Banca preserve their original habits of industry, enterprise, and perseverance; they are the most useful among the inhabitants, and indispensable in the labors of the mines. The general character of the Orang Gunung, or Mountaineers, the original, and, perhaps, most interesting portion of the population, is rude simplicity. Dispersed over large tracts in the interior of the country, they live nearly in a state of nature, but submit without resistance to the general regulations which have been established, and willingly perform the labors required of them; although their natural timidity, and wandering habits, render them, in a considerable degree, inaccessible to Europeans. The Rayads are the remains of a peculiar people, so called, who, with their families and households, live in small prows, in the Bays of Jebus and Klabut, and obtain subsistence by fishing and adventure. Particulars of the Mountaineers and Rayads will form a separate notice.
Borneo—In Borneo, if we have not enjoyed the advantage of scientific inquiry, we have yet added considerably to our stock of information, in a more correct knowledge of the character and habits of the native population; in the collection of vocabularies of various dialects of the country; and in the acquisition of many interesting particulars regarding the extensive colonies of Chinese, by whom the gold-mines of this latter island are worked.
Some notices have been received of ruins of temples, of statues and dilapidated cities in Borneo, and of the existence of various inscriptions, in different parts of the country, in characters unknown either to the Chinese, Malays, or Dayacs, but the information yet obtained is too vague, and, in some instances, too contradictory, to be relied upon; and the question, whether this island, at any former period, rose to any considerable degree of greatness, must yet remain undecided. Embanking, as it were, the navigable pathway between the eastern and western hemispheres, and lying contiguous to the most populous regions of the globe (China and Japan), there can be little doubt but at one period it must have risen far above its present state of degradation and neglect. That Borneo was visited, many centuries ago, by the Chinese and Japanese, is well established; but whether it was ever more extensively colonized by either of those nations, than it is at present from China, must be left to future inquiry. Porcelain, jars, plates, vases, and earthen utensils of various descriptions, the manufacture of China and Japan, are frequently discovered in different parts of the country; and such is the veneration in which these articles, so found, are held, that a single jar of this description has been known to be purchased by Dayacs of the interior, for a sum little short of two hundred pounds sterling. They are prized by the Dayacs as the supposed depositaries of the ashes of their forefathers.
I would here take notice of the information collected concerning the different tribes of Dayacs which have come under consideration, but that the detail might appear misplaced in the very general view of the subject which I am of necessity compelled to take. I will only observe, that from a comparative vocabulary of as many of their dialects as are at present accessible, they appear to differ but little from the Malayan; that of the numerous tribes distinguished by their names and other peculiarities, several are represented as tattooed; and that some have curled hair, and resemble the Papuas.
In the vicinity of Banjar-masin no opportunity of increasing our information has been suffered to be lost. Mr. Alexander Hare, the founder of the interesting colony established in the southern part of the island, has himself penetrated across the south-west peninsula; and, as confidence advances, we may look to a more extensive intercourse with the rude and scattered tribes of the interior.
Celebes.—In a former discourse I took occasion to notice, that the most prominent people on Celebes where the Bugis and Macassars; that though speaking different languages, their respective races used the same written character; and that the Mahomedan religion prevailed generally in those parts of the islands which might be considered to have at all advanced from a state of barbarism.
Confining our observations to the south-western limb of this whimsically-shaped island, we may infer, that notwithstanding the country has generally declined since its intercourse with Europeans, it may still be reckoned populous, compared with many of the islands of the east. The population has been roughly estimated at about a million; but the data, on which this estimate was formed, are not to be unreservedly relied upon.
About the period of the first arrival of Europeans in the East, the Macassar and Bugis tribes were among the principal dealers in spices, and the Isle of Celebes was nearly under the authority of a single sovereign. On the breaking down of that great empire, several of the minor states submitted to European administration; while the support given to the authority of Boni, and the monopoly of the spice-trade by Europeans, effectually reduced the political influence of the ancient state of Goa.
The most ancient state, of which tradition makes mention in Celebes, is Luhu or Luwu, situated in the inner part of the Bay of Boni; and the Galigas, or historical romances, are replete with the adventures and exploits of Sewira Gading, the first chief of that country, and who is said to have extended his dominions to the straits of Malacca. Next to Luhu, the empire of Goa has the greatest claims to antiquity; and a period is mentioned when this state extended its influence to Achin, Manilla, Sulu, Ternate, and the whole of the spice-islands.
In 1663, Rajah Palaka visited Batavia, and, in 1666, co-operated with the Dutch government against the native states on the coast of Sumatra: from this period the authority of Boni advanced, until the recent arrangements by the British government.
The Macassar and Bugis tribes are known to be the most bold, adventurous, and enterprizing of all the people of the Eastern Islands. They were formerly celebrated for their fidelity and their courage; and, for this reason, were employed, like the Swiss in Europe, in foreign armies. They served in those of Siam, Camboja, and other countries, and also as guards to their own princes.
The most singular political feature in Celebes, is that of an elective monarchy, limited by an aristocracy generally hereditary, and exercising feudal authority over the minor chiefs and population, at all times prepared to take the field; a constitution of civil society which, however common in Europe, is perhaps, without parallel in Asia, where we seldom witness any considerable departure from the despotic sway of an individual. The whole of the states, in that portion of Celebes to which I have alluded, are constituted on the peculiar principle stated:—the prince is chosen from the royal stock by a certain number of counsellors, who also possess the right of subsequently removing him. These counsellors are themselves elected from particular families of the hereditary chiefs of provinces; and such is their influence, that the prince can neither go to war, nor indeed, adopt any public measure, except in concert with them. They have the charge of the public treasure, and also appoint the prime minister. The prince cannot himself take the personal command of the army; but the usage of the country admits of a temporary resignation of office for this purpose; in which case a regent succeeds provisionally to the rank of chief, and carries on the affairs of government in concert with the majority of the council. Women and minors are eligible to election in every department of the state, from the prince down to the lowest chief: and, when this takes place, an additional officer, having a title which literally means "support," or "prop," is appointed to assist. Some variation 1s observable, in the different states. In Boni, the prince is elected by the Orang Pitu, or seven hereditary counsellors. In Goa, the prince is chosen by ten counsellors, of whom the first minister, termed Bechara Buta, is one. This last officer is himself first appointed by the Council of Nine, termed the Nine Banners of the Country; but in the exercise of his office he possesses very extraordinary powers. He can even remove the prince himself, and call upon the electors to make another choice. The inferior chiefs or krains, who administer the dependent province, are appointed by the government, and not elected by a provincial council, although in the exercise of their office their power is in like manner limited. The number of the council varies, in different provinces, from two to seven.
War is decided upon in the council of state; and so forcibly is the desperate ferocity and barbarism of the people depicted by the conduct they observe on these occasions, and in their subsequent proceedings towards their enemies, that however revolting the contemplation of such a state of society may be, it forms too striking a trait in their character to be omitted. War being decided upon by the prince in council, the assembled chiefs, after sprinkling their banners with blood, proceed to take a solemn oath, by dipping their creeses in a vessel of water, and afterwards dancing around the bloody banner, with frantic gesture and a strange contortion of the body and limbs, so as to give the extended creese a tremulous motion. Each severally imprecates the vengeance of the Deity against his person, if he violates his vow. An enemy is no sooner slain, than the body is decapitated, and treated with every indignity which the barbarous triumph of savages can dictate. The heads are carried on poles, or sent in to the lord-paramount. Some accounts go se far as to represent them devouring the raw heart of their subdued enemy, and whatever shadow of doubt humanity may throw over this appalling fact, it cannot be denied that their favourite meal is the raw heart and blood of the deer. This latter repast is termed Lor dara, or the feast of the Bloody Heart, which they are said to devour, as among the Battas, in the season when limes and salt are plentiful.
This, however, is viewing them on the worst side of their character, with immediate reference to their conduct in war, and the practices found to prevail among that portion of the population laboring under restrictions on foreign commerce: there are other points of view in which it may be more favorably considered.
The inhabitants of the Wadju districts in particular, are celebrated for their enterprize and intelligence—extending their commercial speculations, with a high character for honorable and fair dealing, from the western shores of Siam to the eastern coast of New Holland. Women, as before observed, take an active part in all public concerns, and are, in no instance, secluded from society, being on a perfect equality with the men. The strongest attachment that is conceivable is felt for ancient customs, and relics of antiquity are held in the highest possible veneration. They are slow and deliberate in their decisions, but these, once formed, are final. Agreements once entered into are invariably observed on their part, and a Bugis is never known to swerve from his bargain. That natural politeness which characterizes the various nations and tribes distinguished by wearing the criss or creese, is no where more forcibly exhibited than among the inhabitants of Celebes. Their minor associations are held together by all the attachment and warmth which have distinguished the clans of North Britain. The same bold spirit of independence and enterprize distinguishes the lower orders; while the pride of ancestry, and the romance of chivalry, are the delight of the higher classes. Attached to the chace as an amusement, rather than as the means of subsistence, the harvest is no sooner reaped, than every feudal chief, with his associates and followers, devotes himself to its pursuits. The population being equally at the command of the feudal lord, whether in time of peace or war, agricultural pursuits, beyond what may procure a bare subsistence, are but little attended to. The usual share of the crop, at the disposal of the chief, is a tithe termed sima; and this, with a few imposts in the bazars, and the services of the people, constitute the revenue of the state.
The languages and literature of the Celebes require a more extended and detailed view than it is possible to take of either on the present occasion. I shall therefore only briefly observe, that the languages prevalent throughout these states appear to have been, at no very remote period, one and the same; but the various revolutions which first raised the power of Goa, and subsequently elevated that of Boni to a still higher importance, have, in separating the states under two distinct authorities, given rise to two prevailing dialects, now assuming the appellation of two distinct languages. Of these, the language of Goa or Macassar is peculiarly soft and is considered to be the more easy of acquisition, but not so copious as that of the Bugis. Whether the Bugis language contains any portion of a more ancient language than either (of which traces are said to exist in some old manuscripts of the country,) or, from commercial intercourse with other states, has adopted more foreign terms, is yet to be determined. The written character is nearly the same; the Macassars, however, using more consonant sounds than the Bugis. The same practice of softening the abrupt or harsh sound of a word ending in a consonant, by attaching a final a or o, so general in almost every tongue of the archipelago, is common to, and, I believe, invariably observed in both these languages. The possible existence of a language distinct from and anterior to those now in use, is a subject well deserving enquiry.
The Bugis trace back their history to Sawira Geding, whom they represent to have proceeded in immediate descent from their heavenly mediator, Bitara Guru, and to have been the first chief of any celebrity in Celebes. He reigned, as I before observed, over Luhu, the most ancient kingdom of Celebes: and a lapse of time, equal to seven descents, is said to have taken place before the establishment of Boni. Both this chieftain, and the founder of the empire of Goa, are represented to have been great navigators and foreigners; or, according to the romance of native tradition, deities sent from heaven to govern and take care of them. The inhabitants of Macassar have no idea by what means, or at what period, the present form of government, of the nine Glarang, and the Bichara Buta of Goa, was established.
Literary compositions, in both the Macassar and Bugis languages, are numerous. They consist principally in historical accounts of the different states, since the introduction of Mahomedanism, which is represented to have taken place so late as the early part of the sixteenth century; and in galigas or collections of traditions, regarding more early times, of romances and poetical compositions, in which love, war, and the chace, are the favorite themes. They include a paraphrase of the Koran, and several works, evidently translated from the Javanese and Arabic, and many in common with the Malayu; also works on judicial astrology, and collections of institutions and customs which have all the force of law; and each principal state adopts the practice of duly recording every public event of importance, as it occurs.
Java. I shall not longer detain you with notices of our neighbours, while so wide and interesting a field attracts attention at home. In Java, and in that range of islands which modern geographers have classed under the denomination of the Sunda Islands, I have hitherto refrained from noticing the extensive traces of antiquity, foreign intercourse, and national greatness, which are exhibited in the numerous monuments of a former worship, in the ruins of dilapidated cities, and in the character, the institutions, the language, and the literature of the people, from the hope that abler pens would have attempted a more correct sketch than either my humble abilities or limited information enable me to contemplate or embrace. The subject is so extensive, so new, so highly interesting, that I must claim your indulgence, if, in aiming at conciseness in representing the appearances and facts which have most forcibly struck my attention, many still more important particulars pass unnoticed.
On the peculiar province of Dr. Horsefield, to whom I am indebted for whatever information I possess on the natural history of the island, I shall not further trespass, than by adverting to the extensive and almost endless variety which these regions present in every branch of his pursuits. One observation, however, as connected with the earlier history of Java, in explaining the high fertility of its soil in comparison with that of the Malayan peninsula and Sumatra may deserve notice in this place. From the result of every investigation yet made, the geological constitution of Java appears to be exclusively volcanic, without any admixture whatever of the primitive or secondary mountains of the Asiatic continent; while, on the contrary, Sumatra, with Banca, as before noticed, appear to be a continuation and termination of the immense chain of mountains which pervades ⟨a⟩ great part of Asia, and runs off finally in a direction north-west to south-east. Java deviates from the direction of Sumatra and the peninsula of Malacca, in striking off directly west and east. In this direction it is followed by the larger of the adjacent islands of Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Endi, and Timor; and by many smaller, which contribute to constitute an extensive series. This direction, as well as the constitution of all the islands enumerated, indicates the existence of an extensive volcanic chasm in this part of the globe, running, for many degrees, almost parallel with the equator. The consequences of Java’s being exclusively volcanic are, that while Sumatra abounds in metals, Java, generally speaking, is destitute of them; that, while in Sumatra there are many extensive tracts, sterile, and unfavorable to vegetation, Java, with few exceptions, is covered with a soil in the highest degree fertile, luxuriant and productive of every species of vegetation.
Referring to the ample details of the mineralogy of Java, which the scientific and persevering exertions of Dr. Horsefield have enabled us to include in our present volume, I shall, on this branch of our pursuits, only observe, that catalogues and collections of the varieties in the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, as they have been found to exist on Java, have been formed by this gentleman, who is at present engaged in exploring the districts lying to the east and south of Suracarta, with the view of completing materials for the natural history of Java. His Flora Javana is already far advanced. The geography of plants is a subject to which he has particularly directed his researches. From the extensive range of the thermometer between the high and the low lands, Java presents to the botanist, at the least, six distinct associations of plants or floras, indigenous to as many climates, defined by their comparative elevation above the level of the sea.
If, to the naturalist, Java exhibits these extensive and wonderful varieties, to the antiquary, the philologist and the philosopher, she offers, in like manner, subjects of equal novelty, and even of higher interest; whether we investigate the splendid remains of her temples and her cities, her languages and her literature; or the character, institutions and customs of her inhabitants.
To attempt any satisfactory description of the various monuments of antiquity, and of a former worship, which are to be found in almost every district of the island, would be impracticable on the present occasion; and, with the exception of a few notices, I must content myself with assuring you, that however deficient we may be in scientific information, or in a knowledge of the mythology sacred to which these monuments may have been reared, measures have been taken that a record, to be depended upon for exactness at least, should exist of the actual remains of Hinduism in Java. I am indebted to Captain Baker, who is now actively engaged in these pursuits, for the most accurate sketches of the present appearance of the most important of these ruins as well as for ground plans and elevations of the principal temples, with notices of much valuable information which is to be collected of their origin, object, and history.
You are aware that the most splendid of these monuments are to be found at Prambanan, Boro Bodo and Singa Sari. Of the first an interesting description is given in the last volume of our transactions, by our highly esteemed friend, Colonel Mackenzie. Circumstances have since admitted of a more minute investigation; and our information, as far as regards their present state, is much more complete. These extensive ruins lay claim to the highest antiquity; and, considering the vicinity of the temples to have been the seat of the earliest monarchy in Java, I may be permitted, in the words of Captain Baker, to lament the contrast of the present times, with "times long since past." "Nothing," he observes, "can exceed the air of melancholy, desolation, and ruin, which this spot presents; and the feelings of every visitor must be forcibly in unison with the scene of surrounding devastation, when he reflects upon the origin of this once venerated, hallowed spot; the seat and proof of the perfection of arts now no longer in existence in Java; the type and emblem of a religion no longer acknowledged, and scarcely known among them by name: when he reflects upon that boundless profusion of active, unwearied skill and patience, the noble spirit of generous emulation, the patronage and encouragement which the arts and sciences must have received, and the inexhaustible wealth and resources which the Javanese of those times must have possessed!"
In attempting to describe the Chandi Sewo, or Thousand Temples, which form a principal part of these ruins, he laments his inability to convey any adequate ideas, satisfactory to his own mind, even of the actual dismantled state of this splendid seat of magnificence and of the arts.—"Never," he observes, "have I met with such stupendous, laborious and finished specimens of human labor, and of the polished, refined taste of ages long since forgot, and crowded together in so small a compass, as characterize and are manifested in this little spot; and, though, I doubt not, there are some remains of antiquity in other parts of the globe more worthy the eye of the traveller, or the pencil of the artist, yet Chandi Sewo must ever rank with the foremost in the attractions of curiosity, or of antiquarian research."
I have preferred giving you the words of Captain Baker, while the subject was fully impressed on his mind, and while in the midst of the objects which he contemplated:—there is a feeling excited at such a moment that gives a coloring to the picture, and which is weakened in the faded tints of a more distant view.
Next to Prambanan, the ruins of Boro Bodo may be ranked as remarkable for grandeur in design, peculiarity of style, and exquisite workmanship. This temple is in the district of Boro, under the residency of the Kadu, whence I presume it takes its name; Bodo being either a term of contempt, cast upon it by the Mahometans, or erroneously so pronounced, instead of Bud' ho—which, in its general acceptation, in the Javanese language, is synonimous with ancient, or heathen. It is built so as to crown the upper part of a small hill, the summit terminating in a dome. The building is square, and is composed of seven terraces rising one above the other, each of which is enclosed by stone walls; the ascent to the different terraces being by four flights of steps, leading from four principal entrances, one on each side of the square. On the top are several small latticed domes, the upper part terminating in one of a larger circumference. In separate niches, or rather temples, at equal distances, formed in the walls of the several terraces, are contained upwards of three hundred stone images of devotees, in a sitting posture, and being each above three feet high. Similar images are within the domes above; and in compartments in the walls, both within and without, are carved in relief, and in the most correct and beautiful style, groupes of figures, containing historical scenes and mythological ceremonies, supposed to be representations of a principal part, either of the Ramayan or Mahabrat. The figures and costume are evidently Indian; and we are at a loss whether most to admire the extent and grandeur of the whole construction, or the beauty, richness and correctness of the sculpture.
The name, and resemblance of the images which surround this temple to the figure of Budha, has induced an opinion that it was exclusively confined to the worship of that deity; but it should be noticed, that in the immediate vicinity of this large temple, and evidently connected with it, are the remains of several smaller temples, constructed much after the fashion of the temples at Prambanan, and containing a variety of sculptures and images of the Brahminical worship. A large but mutilated stone figure of Brahma was found in a field hard by; and as there are images similarly resembling Budha to be found at Prambanan, it would seem, that if they are ascertained to represent that deity, these buildings must have been erected at a period when the worship was not separated.
Although the general design of this temple differs from those at Prambanan, a similar style of sculpture and decoration is observable; and the same may be also traced in the ruins at Singa Sari, situated in the Residency of Pasaruan, where are still to be found images of Brahma, Mahadewa, Ganesa, the Bull Nandi, and others, of the most exquisite workmanship, and in a still higher degree of preservation than any remaining at Prambanan or Boro Bodo.
One of the most extraordinary monuments in this quarter, however, is an immense colossal statue of a man resting on his hams, of the same character as the porters at Prambanan, lying on its face, and adjacent to a terrace, on which it was originally placed. This statue measures in length about twelve feet, breadth between the shoulders nine feet and a half, and at the base nine feet and a half, with corresponding dimensions in girth, cut from one solid stone. The statue seems evidently to have fallen from the adjacent elevated terrace; although it is difficult to reconcile the probability of its having been elevated to such a station, with reference to any traces we now have of the knowledge of mechanics by the Javanese. To have raised it by dint of mere manual labor would appear, at the present day, an Herculean task. The terrace is about eighteen feet high. A second figure, of the same dimensions, has since been discovered in the vicinity of the above; and, when the forest shall be cleared, some traces of the large temple to which they formed the approach may probably be found. Not far from Singa Sari, which was once the seat of empire, and in the district of Malang, are several interesting ruins of temples, of similar construction, and of the same style of ornament.
These buildings must have been raised at a period when the highest state of the arts existed, and constructed at no very distant date from each other. Considered in this view, they serve very forcibly and decidedly to corroborate the historical details of the country, which are found to exist in the different written compositions and dramatic entertainments.
In noticing the more prominent remains of antiquity, as they are to be traced from the architecture and sculpture of former days, I should be wanting in attention, and indeed in a due respect to the popular tradition and the still received opinion of the Javans, did I not speak of Gunung Prahu, a mountain, or rather a range of mountains, (for there are no less than twenty-nine points or summits, which have distinct names,) situated on the northern side of the island, and inland between Samarang and Pacalongan, the supposed residence of Arjuno, and of the demi-gods and heroes who distinguished themselves in the B'rata Yud'ha, or Holy War. Here, the ruins of the supposed palace of the chief—the abode of Bima, his followers and attendants, are exhibited; and so rich was once this spot, in relics of antiquity, that the village of Kali Babar, situated at the foot of the mountain, is stated to have paid its rents, from time immemorial, in gold melted down from the golden images here discovered. So great, indeed, has been the desire to meet the courtly thirst for these interesting relics, that, I regret to say, many of the buildings, composed of a material less in demand, have suffered premature dilapidation on this account. Several interesting remains have recently been discovered by Major Johnson, resident at the Court of the Susunan; and, among these, the ruins at Suku deserve particular notice. But I have already trespassed on a subject which it is impossible to treat well, except in detail, and with reference to drawings of the extensive variety of erections, edifices, images, and poetical creations, which abound in Java.
As connected with these early and splendid monuments of the former high state of the arts in Java, and illustrative of the history of the country, are to be noticed the great variety of inscriptions found in different parts of the island. Fac-similies of most of these have been taken; and I am happy to add, that we have succeeded in decyphering some of the most interesting. The character on the stone found at Prambanan is no doubt one of the Dewa Nagri characters of India; and, with the exception of a few characters discovered at Singa Sari, on the backs of stone images, the only specimen yet discovered of this peculiar formation.
From the vicinity of the former kingdom of Jong'golo, not far distant from the modern Surabaia, have been brought several large stones, of the shape of English tombstones, covered with inscriptions in the ancient Javanese character, and in the Kawi language; translations (or rather paraphrases, for they principally contain prayers and invocations to the Deity, in a language the meaning of a few words only of which are retained, while the idiom and grammatical construction has long been lost,) have been made, and will be found in the pages of our Transactions. It has fallen to my lot to succeed, not only in decyphering the MSS. recently discovered in Cheribon, but also the inscriptions on the copper plates so long deposited among the records of our society as unintelligible; the results will be communicated to the society in another form, and the subject will be more particularly adverted to, when speaking of the languages and literature.
These inscriptions, which, in general, contain dates, are of the first importance in enabling us to trace the source whence the language and literature may have flowed, and to satisfy our minds of the prevailing worship at any particular period. It is only by an assemblage of as many data as can be collected, from this source, from the remains of the arts, from the language, literature, and institutions of the people of the present day, compared with the best information we can procure of other countries of the East, which may have been civilized at an earlier period, that we can come at any fair and just result. The question is too extensive, too important to be lightly treated, or to be decided upon from any pre-conceived opinion or partial views.
Did not other striking and obvious proofs exist of the claims of Java to be considered at one period far advanced in civilization, it might be sufficient to bring forward the perfection of the language, the accession which that language must in earlier times have received from a distant but highly cultivated source, and the copiousness for which it stands so peculiarly and justly distinguished.
In the island of Java, two general languages may be considered as prevalent. The Sunda language, which prevails in the western, and the Javanese, which is the language of the districts east of Cheribon. The first is a simple dialect accommodated to all the purposes of the mountainous classes who speak it, and perhaps differs from the Javanese, not so much in its construction, as in the portion of original and of Malayan words which it contains. One-fourth of the language, at the least, may be considered to be the same as the Javanese; another fourth is perhaps original; and the remaining half Malayan. At what period this extensive portion of the Malayan was adopted, or whether any part or the whole of this portion may not originally have formed the common language of this part of the country, is yet to be decided. In the Javanese, or language of the eastern division of the island, and also of the lower parts of Bantam and Cheribon, the natural or vernacular language in like manner contains a considerable number of words in common with the Malayan, and the general principles of construction are found to have a striking accordance. We thus find strong proofs in support of one common origin of the prevailing languages of the Archipelago, notwithstanding that a large portion of the Malayan words now used in Java may be ascertained to have been received at a comparatively recent date, and in the course of long and continued intercourse with the neighbouring countries.
The Javanese language, properly so called, is distinguished by division between what may be considered as the vernacular language of the country, used by the common people among themselves, and which is adopted when addressing an inferior, and what may be considered as a second or court language, adopted by all inferiors when addressing a superior. The same construction, as well as the idiom of the language, is, I believe, pretty generally preserved in both the languages; the latter, however, consists of a more extensive class of foreign words which would appear to have been picked and culled for the purpose. Where different words have not been found from the common language of the country, an arbitrary variation in the sound of the word belonging to the common language is adopted, as in changing the word progo into pragi, dadi into dados, Jawa into Jawi, &c. and, the more effectually to render the polite language distinct, not only are the affirmatives and negatives, as well the pronouns and prepositions varied, but the auxiliary verbs and particles are in general different.
So effectually, indeed, does this arbitrary distinction prevail, that in the most common occurrences and expressions, the language that would be used by a superior bears not the slightest resemblance to what, with the same object, would be used by an inferior. Thus when a superior would say to an inferior "You have been sick a very long time," he would in the common or vernacular language use the words "Lawas teman goni loro," while an inferior, using the court language, would to the same purport say, "Lamí leras genipun sakit." If the former would ask the question "is your child a boy or a girl?" he would use the words, "Anak kiro wadon opo lanang?" but the latter would express himself, "Putro hijang' an diko, estrí punopo?" Again, would the former observe "That the people of Java, both men and women, like to preserve the hair of the head," he would say "Wongpulu Jawa lanang wadon podo ng' ing' u rambut;" while the latter would use the words, "Tetíang heng nusa Jawi estrí jalar sami ng ing a remo, &c."
It is not, however, to be supposed that these languages are so separated that the one is studied and attained exclusively of the other; for, while one is the language of address, the other must be that of reply; and the knowledge of both is indispensable to those who have occasion to communicate with persons of a different rank from themselves. In the polite language, Kawi words are frequently introduced by the party, either to show his reading, or evince a higher mark of respect. The Kawi however, is, more properly a dead language, the language of literary compositions of the higher class; and is, to the Javanese, what the Sanscrit is to the languages of Hindostan, and the Pali to the Birman and Siamese: how far it may assimilate to either, must remain to be decided by more accurate comparison and observation, than we have yet had opportunity to make. It is in this language that the more ancient and celebrated of the literary performances of the country are written; and it is probable that it will be found, that while the general language of Java possesses, in common with all the more cultivated languages of the archipelago, a considerable portion of Sanscrit terms, the court-language is still more replete with them; and that the Kawi, and particularly that which is reckoned most ancient, and which is decyphered from inscriptions on stone and copper-plates, is almost pure Sanscrit. The construction and idiom in these inscriptions is no longer comprehended by the Javanese, and there are but few whose intelligence, and acquaintance with the terms used, enables them to give even a faint notion of their meaning. Examples of these languages, taken from the B'rata Yud'ha, and from some of the inscriptions alluded to, will appear in the new volume of our Transactions.
To facilitate the acquirement of a language in its nature so extensive and varied as that of the Javanese, a method is adopted similar to what I understand is known in India, of classing the synonyms in such a manner as to connect them in the memory, by stringing them in classes, according to the natural chain of our ideas; the collection or vocabulary so composed is termed doso nomo, literally ten names, and in point of fact there are but few words in the language which have not at least so many synonyms.—An example of this mode of instruction and of assisting the memory is also included in our volume as illustrative, not only of the method alluded to, but of the great delicacy and variety of the language.
I am happy to report that very extensive vocabularies, not only of both divisions of the Javanese, including the Kawi, but of the Sunda, and of the dialects of Madura and Bali, with notices of the varieties in particular districts and mountain-tribes, have been collected and that whenever our more intimate acquaintance with the written compositions of the country may afford the test of some experience in aid of what has already been done, the grand work of a grammar and dictionary may be accomplished. This has long been our first and grand desideratum.
In both the Sunda and Javanese languages the same written character is in use; and it has not yet been traced whether the former ever had a separate written character or not; at a place, however, called Batu Tulis, on the site of the ancient capital of Pajajaran, is preserved an inscription on stone in very rude characters; and several similar inscriptions in the same character have been recently discovered at Kwali in Cheribon, where some of the descendants of the princes of Pajajaran took refuge. This character, till lately, appeared widely different from any other yet noticed in Java, but is now found to contain some of the letters and vowel marks in common with the Javanese. The date inscribed on the stone at Batu Tulis has fortunately been decyphered, and the character was doubtlessly used by the Sunda people, at the period of the destruction of the western government of Pajajaran.
No less than seven different characters are represented to have been in use at different periods of Javanese history; and although those at present adopted appear at first sight to be very different from the more ancient, yet, on examination, the one may without much difficulty be traced to the other, by observing the gradual alterations made from time to time. Specimens of these different characters, with the periods in which they were respectively used, are submitted to the inspection of the Society; and I regret that the absence of an engraver precludes them from appearing in the volume of our transactions.
The literature of Java, however much it may have declined in latter days, must be still considered as respectable. The more ancient historical compositions are mostly written in the Kawi language, to which frequently the meaning of each word, and a paraphrase of the whole in Javanese, is annexed. Of these compositions those most highly esteemed are the B'rata Yud'ha or Holy War, and a volume entitled Romo or Rama, the former descriptive of the exploits of Arjuno, and the principal heroes whose fame is recorded in the celebrated Indian poem of the Mahabarat, the latter of those who are distinguished in the Ramayan. These poems are held by the Javanese of the present day in about the same estimation as the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer are by Europeans. Until translations are made, and can be compared with the more extensive works in India, it would be premature to form any judgment on their relative excellence. The B'rata Yud'ha is contained in about two hundred verses; but, in rendering the Kawi into Javanese, it is found necessary, in order to convey anything like the meaning, to render one line of Kawi into at least three of the modern Javanese. I should not omit to mention that the belief is general among the Javanese, that the scene of this celebrated romance is on Java. They point out the different countries which are referred to, such as Hastina, Wirata, and others in different districts of the island, which have since assumed more modern names; and the supposed mansion of Arjuno, as before noticed, is still traced upon Gunung Prahu.
These works, in common with almost every composition in the language, are composed in regularly measured verses; and as far as we can judge, from the partial translations which have been made from them, through the medium of the Javanese, they do credit to the power of the language and the genius of the poet.
Historical compositions are divided into two general classes, termed Pakam and Babat; under the former are considered the Romo and B'rata Yud'ha; the institutions and regulations for princes and the officers of state and law, entitled Kopo Kopo, Jogol Muda and Kontoro; works on astronomy and judicial astrology, termed Wuku; and works on moral conduct, regulations and ancient institutions, termed Niti Sastro and Niti Projo. Under the Babat are classed chronological, and other works on modern history, since the establishment of the empire of Mataram.
There are in use, for ordinary and popular compositions, five different kinds of regular measured stanzas, termed Tembang, adapted to the subject treated of, whether heroic, amorous, or otherwise; these are termed Asmoron Dono, Dandang Gula, Sinom, Durmo and Pankgur. In the higher compositions, and particularly in the Kawi, these measures are still more varied, and in number upward of twenty, twelve of which correspond in name with the stanzas used in the poetry of continental India.
In repeating these compositions, they are chaunted, or rather drawled out, in regular metre, according to rules laid down for the long and short syllables. Dramatic representations of various kinds form the constant recreation of the higher classes of society, and the most polished amusement of the country. These consist of the Wayang Kulit or scenic shadows, in which the several heroes of the drama, represented in a diminutive size, are made to perform their entrances and exits behind a transparent curtain. The subjects of these representations are taken either from the more ancient works of the B'rata Yud'ha or Romo, and then denominated Wayang Purwo, or from the history of Panji, the most renowned hero of Java story, and then termed Wayang Gedog. The Wayang Wong, in which men personify the heroes of the B'rata Yud'ha and Romo, is also termed Wayang Purwo. They have also the Topeng, in which men wearing masks, personify those immortalized in the history of Panji; and the Wayang Klitik or Koritchil, not unlike a puppet-shew in Europe, in which diminutive wooden figures personify the heroes of Majapahit.
These dramatic exhibitions are accompanied by performances on the Gamelan, or musical instruments of the Javanese, of which there are severa distinct sets; the Salindro, which accompanies the performances from the B'rata Yud'ha and Romo, as well as the Topeng; the Pelog which accompanies the Wayang Gedog; the Kodok Ngokek, Chara Bali, Senenan and others. The Javanese music is peculiarly harmonious, but the gamut is imperfect.
Whatever portion of astronomical science may have in former times been communicated to Java, the people of the present day have no pretensions to distinction on this account. It is true they possess the signs of the zodiac, and still preserve a mode of calculating the seasons, the principles of which must have been discovered by a people well acquainted with the motions of the heavenly bodies. They also possess several works on judicial astrology; but in this they follow only what is laid down for them in the few pages of a book almost illegible, and in the traditions of the country.
It was my intention in this place to have attempted some sketch of the interesting and peculiar features of the Javanese character, with reference to those admirable institutions which distinguish the constitution of society among this people; but I have already trespassed too long on your kindness—and there are two subjects which have recently attracted my particular attention, and which, on account of their novelty, I am desirous of bringing to your notice. During my late tour through the Eastern Districts, I visited the Teng'gar mountains, on which it had been represented to me that some remains of the former worship of Java were still to be found, and accident threw me on the shores of Bali, while attempting to reach Banyuwangi. The simplicity of the people who inhabit the Teng'gar mountains, and the fact of such remains being still in existence in Java, is entitled to record; and I am aware that whatever information I may be able to communicate respecting Bali, however imperfect, will be accepted.
Teng'gar mountains.—To the eastward of Surabaia and on the range of hills connected with Gunung Dasar, and lying partly in the District of Pasuraun and partly in that of Probolingo, known by the name of the Teng'gar mountains, we find the remnant of a people still following the Hindu worship, who merit attention not only on account of their being the depositaries of the last trace of that worship discovered at this day on Java, but as exhibiting a peculiar singularity and simplicity of character.
These people occupy about forty villages, scattered along this range of hills in the neighbourhood of the Sandy Sea, and are partly under Pasuraun and partly under Probolingo. The scite of the villages, as well as the construction of the houses is peculiar, and differs entirely from what is elsewhere observed in Java. The houses are not shaded by trees, but built on spacious open terraces, rising one above the other, each house occupying a terrace, and being in length from thirty to seventy, and even eighty feet. The door is invariably in one corner, at the opposite end of the building to that in which the fire-place is built. The building appears to be first constructed with the ordinary roof, but along the front, is an enclosed veranda or gallery of about eight feet broad, with a less inclined piche in the roof, formed of bamboos, which are so placed as to slide out, either for the admission of air, or to afford a channel for the smoke to escape, there being otherwise no aperture, except a small opening, of about a foot square, at one end of the building, above the fireplace, and which is built of brick, and so highly venerated, that it is considered sacrilege for any stranger to pollute it by the touch. Across the upper part of the building, rafters are run across, so as to form a kind of attic story, in which they deposit their valuables and instruments of husbandry.
The head of the village takes the title of Petingi, as in the low lands, and he is generally assisted by a Kabayan; both elected by the people from their own village. There are four priests who are here termed Dukuns, having charge of the sacred records.
These Dukuns, who are in general intelligent men, have no tradition of the time when they were first established on these hills; from what country they came or who intrusted them with the sacred books to the faith contained in which they still adhere. These latter, they state, were handed down to them by their fathers, their office being hereditary, and the sole duty required of them being to perform the puja according thereto, and again to hand them down in safety to their children. They consist of three compositions written on the Lontar-leaf, describing the origin of the world, the attributes of the Deity, and the forms of worship to be observed on different occasions. Copies were taken on the spot; and as the language does not essentially differ from the ordinary Javanese, I hope at an early period to place the Society in possession of translations. In the mean time some notices of their customs, and of the ceremonies performed at births, marriages, and funerals, may be interesting.
When a woman is delivered of her first child, the Dukun takes a leaf of the Alang Alang grass, and scraping the skin of the hands of the child and of the mother with it, as well as the ground, pronounces a short benediction.
When a marriage is agreed upon, the bride and bridegroom being brought before the Dukun within the house, in the first place, bow with respect towards the south—then to the fire-place—then to the earth, and lastly, on looking up to the upper story of the house, where the implements of husbandry are placed, perform the same ceremony. The parties then submissively bowing to the Dukun, he repeats a prayer commencing with the words, "Hong! Gendogo Bromo ang'gas siwong'go nomo s woho sany yang g'ni siro kang, &c." while the bride washes the feet of the bridegroom. This ceremony over, the friends and family of the parties make presents to each: of creeses, buffaloes, implements of husbandry, &c. in return for which the bride and bridegroom respectfully present them with betel-leaf.
At the marriage feast which ensues, the Dukun repeats two puja, which will be found in the collection. The marriage is not consummated till the fifth day after the above ceremony—which delay is termed by the undang mantu. A similar delay is, in some cases, still observed by the Javanese in other parts of the island, under the term undoh mantu.
On the death of an inhabitant of Teng'gar, the corpse is lowered into the grave, the head been placed to the south (contrary to the direction observed by the Mahometans), and bamboos and planks are placed over, so as to prevent the earth from touching it. When the grave is closed, two posts are planted over the body, one perpendicular from the breast, the other from the lower part of the belly. Between these two a hollowed bamboo is inserted in the ground, into which, during seven successive days, they daily pour a vessel of pure water, placing beside the bamboo, two dishes also daily replenished with eatables. At the expiration of the seventh day, the feast of the dead is announced, and the relations and friends of the deceased assemble to be present at the ceremony and partake of the entertainment, which is conducted as follows.
An image of leaves, ornamented with variegated flowers, made to represent the human form, and of about a cubit high, is prepared and placed in a conspicuous place, and supported round the body by the clothes of the deceased. The Dukun then places in front of the garland an incense-pot, with burning ashes, and a vessel containing water, and repeats the two puja to fire and water; the former commencing with "Hong Gendogo Bromo ang'gas siwong'go nomo siwoho," &c. and the latter with "Hong, hong gong'gomoho terto roto mejel saking hati," &c. burning dupu (incense) at stated periods during the former, and occasionally sprinkling the water over the feast during the repetition of the latter.
The clothes of the deceased are then divided among the relatives and friends; and, the garland burned, another puja commencing "Hong! awigno mastu nomo sidam, hong! araning," &c. is then repeated, while the remains of the sacred water is sprinkled over the feast; after which the parties sit down to the enjoyment of it, invoking a blessing from the Almighty on themselves, their houses and their lands. Nothing more occurs until the expiration of a thousand days; when, if the memory of the deceased is beloved and cherished, the ceremony and feast are repeated: otherwise no further notice is taken.
On questioning them regarding the tenets of their religion, they replied that they believed in a dewa, who was all powerful; that the term by which the dewa was designated, was Bumi Truko Sangyang Dewoto Bator; and that the particulars of their worship were contained in the book called Panglawa, which they presented to me.
On being questioned regarding the adat against adultery, theft and other crimes, their reply was unanimous and ready; that crimes of the kind were unknown to them, and that consequently no punishment was fixed either by law or custom; that if a man did wrong the head of the village chid him for it, the reproach of which was always sufficient punishment for a man of Teng'gar. This account of their moral character is fully confirmed by the Regents of the districts under whose authority they are placed, and also by the Residents. They literally seem to be almost without crime. They are universally peaceable; interfere with no one; neither quarrel among themselves. It may be superfluous to add, that they are unacquainted with the vices of gaming and opium-smoking!
The aggregate population amounts to about twelve hundred souls. They occupy, without exception, the most beautiful, rich and romantic spots in Java. The thermometer, in their country, is frequently as low as 42°. The summits and slopes of the hills are covered with alpine firs, and the vegetation common to a European climate generally prevails.
Their language does not differ much from the Javanese of the present day, though more gutturally pronounced: in a comparison of about a hundred words of the vernacular Javanese, two only differed. They do not intermarry nor mix with the people of the low lands, priding themselves on their independence and purity in this respect.
Bali.—Passing from this last vestige of the Hindu worship now remaining in Java, (for the Bedui, though descendants of the fugitives of Pajajaran, scarcely merit notice in this respect,) I proceed to mention some of the leading observations which I made in Bali. The notices regarding the prevalence of Hinduism in Bali, and of the nature of the government and country, have hitherto been so scanty, that on such interesting ground I may be pardoned for entering into some detail, without which it is impossible to convey a just notion of the subject.
The island of Bali is at present divided under seven separate authorities, each independent of the other; and of this heptarchy, the state of Klongkong is acknowledged to be the most ancient; its princes tracing their descent from the princes of Java, and having once possessed authority over the whole island. Among the regalia of this state are reported to be still preserved the creese of Majapahit, and the celebrated gong named Bentur Kadaton; and, although the other governments do not at the present day admit of any interference on the part of this state, they still evince a marked respect and courtesy to that family, as the Asal Rajah Bali, (the stock from which they sprung).
The population is roughly estimated by the number of male inhabitants whose teeth have been filed, and whose services each prince can command, and who amount to upward of 200,000. The female population is understood rather to exceed the male; and, as it may be considered that only the active and able bodied men are included in the above list, an average of four to a family may be fairly taken, giving a total population for the whole island exceeding eight hundred thousand souls.
The form of government, institutions and prevailing habits, are represented to be the same throughout the island; and the following sketch of B'liling may afford a just notion of the whole.
The government is despotic, and vested in the prince alone, who is assisted in all affairs relating to the internal administration of the country, by a head Perbakal, (immediately under officers of this name, are placed the heads of villages,) and by a Radin Tumunggung, who conducts the details of a more general nature, of commerce and foreign intercourse. The constitution of each village is the same; the head or chief is termed Perbakal, and the assistant, Kalian Tempek. These officers are invariably selected from among the people of the village; the son, however, generally succeeding the father, if competent to perform the duties. Under the head Perbakal, who has the designation of Perbakal Rajah, are several inferior Perbakals for general duties and communications with the villages; and under the Radin Tumun'gung a similar establishment, bearing the rank and designation of Kalian Tempek. Among the heads of villages are many whose families have formerly distinguished themselves in the wars of Bali, and who are termed Gusti. The command of the military is at present vested in a chief of the Bramana cast, and who seems to receive honours and respect next to the prince himself.
Whatever, at former periods, may have been the extent and influence of the Hindu religion, Bali is now the only island in the Eastern Seas, in which that religion is still prevailing as the national and established religion of the country. That high spirit of enterprize which burst the bounds of the extensive confines of India, like the dove from the ark, rested its weary wing for a while in Java, till driven from thence it sought a refuge in Bali, where even amongst the rudest and most untutored of savages, it found an asylum. The four grand divisions of the Hindus are here acknowledged, and the number of Bramana (Bramins) attached to the small state of B'liling exceeds four hundred, of whom about one hundred are termed Pandita.
Without entering into the particular tenets of the prevailing Hinduism of Bali, which can only be treated of with propriety and correctness after a more thorough acquaintance with the practical duties, and some knowledge of what is contained in their sacred records it may be affirmed without hazard, that Hinduism, as it exists at the present day in Bali, is rather to be considered as the nationalized Hinduism of Bali, in which a large portion of the native institutions and customs are admitted, than Hinduism as it is understood to prevail on the continent of India. The Brahmins, however, are held in high veneration; and, on being questioned as to their doctrines and to what sect they belong, they answer invariably, they are Bramana Siwa. They have the same appearance as Bramins wherever they are met with, and the Indian features at once distinguish them as descended from a foreign race. The town and small temples which we occasionally observed, have the appearance of a Maharatta village, and the eye is struck with every thing strictly Hindu, forming a most unexpected contrast with the present style of building and appearance of the country on passing through Java and the other Eastern Islands.
On inquiring into the relative rank and importance of their deities, they invariably described Bitara Guru as the first in rank; then Bitara Brama, the spirit of fire; Bitara Wisnu, the spirit of the waters; and lastly, Bitara Siwa, the spirit of the winds.
Beside these, they describe numerous subordinate deities, to whom they pay adoration; as Dewa Gid'e Segara, the divinity of the great sea; Dewa Gid'e Dalam, the divinity who presides over death; Gid'e Bali Agung, the great and popular deity of Bali; Dewa Gid'e Gunung Agung, the great deity of the mountain; which last is the deity of most general worship.
Bitara Guru, though considered as the highest object of worship, is declared to be subordinate to, and only the mediator with the divinity, whom they designate by the expressive and appropriate term of Sang Yang Tung'gal, The great and only One.
The bodies of deceased persons are invariably burnt, and the wives and concubines of the higher classes perform the sacrifice of Satia. A few days previous to my landing on Bali, nineteen young women, the wives and concubines of the younger rajah, who was lately put to death, sacrificed themselves in this manner.
The written language of Bali differs but little from that of Java; but the character has a more ancient form. The Kawi is the sacred language, and understood or pretended to be understood by the Bramins. The common language is a mixture of the original language of the country and that of Java, in which the latter predominates.
Deferring until another occasion a more particular review of the religion, institutions and habits of this people, I will, for the present, confine myself to such observations as occur on the contemplation of the peculiar and extraordinary character they exhibit: for the Balinese differs widely both in appearance and character from the Javan, and indeed from every other inhabitant of the archipelago.
The natives of Bali are about the middle size of Asiatics; larger and more athletic than the Javans or Malays, and possessed of an air of independence different altogether from the appearance of their more polished neighbours on the coast of Java. The women, in particular, are well proportioned. They seem to be on a perfect equality with the men. They are not secluded from society; and their general intercourse with strangers, even Europeans, is frank and cheerful. They are fairer than the women in Java; and wearing no covering above the waist, the natural beauty and symmetry of their shape is neither restrained nor concealed.
There are two kinds of slavery existing in Bali, and sanctioned b the laws of the country. The first is termed "paniak;" by which is understood a perfect state of slavery; the second, "kowang," which resembles the condition of the slave-debtor in Sumatra and the Malay peninsula. "Paniak" is synonimous with "humba" among the Malays, and signifies a slave. The master has complete possession of his person; and may lawfully transfer and punish with death, according to his will and pleasure, it being contrary to usage for the prince to interfere. In the mode of acquiring this absolute property there appears to be but little restriction. Prisoners taken in war, or families carried off from their countries, are daily sold and transferred; the deed of transfer, called in Bali, "padol," being authenticated by the Tumung'gung. In cases where an outrage is committed in a neighbouring state in alliance, application from the injured party, transmitted through the proper chief, will cause the persons to be restored, and the perpetrators of the outrage are liable to the punishment of death; but, in cases where the countries are not immediately in alliance, or when the parties carried off from a friendly state happen to want friends to make application in their favour, no notice is taken of such occurrences. If a free man wishes to marry a female slave, he may obtain her by purchase, provided he can agree with the proprietor; otherwise, he may be admitted to marry her on condition that he becomes a servant with her: this second of slavery comes under the title of "rowang." Persons convicted of offences not of the first magnitude, are generally sold for slaves by the prince, or taken to serve him as such. The term "rowang" is used to express the second, or modified degree of slavery. If a man happens to be indebted, and without the means of payment (the debt exceeding ten dollars) he may be sold by the Jaxa, and the amount for which he is disposed of is appropriated to repay his creditor; the surplus being divided between the prince, the Jaxa, and the creditor, as a recompense for their trouble: the man sold in this manner becomes a rowang. This state of servitude embraces every feature of slavery, excepting that the rowang cannot be sold, put to death, nor sent out of the country. If a rowang wishes to marry, he may do so on receiving his master's consent, but the woman becomes a rowang also. But the rowang possesses this advantage, that he may redeem himself at any time, by paying the amount of the debt, or the money may be advanced for him; so that his condition is that of a debtor bound to serve his creditor until the amount of his debt is discharged. In the event of the debt not amounting to ten dollars, the party cannot be sold; but the jaxa will order the goods and property of the debtor to be disposed of, and an obligation to be given for the payment of the remainder whenever his circumstances may admit. A person indebted to another, and unable to pay, may make over his wife and children to the creditor, who, in such case, will become rowangs; and, on eventual payment of his debt, he may demand back his family.
In marriage, the dowry established by custom, for all persons of equal rank, is forty dollars, to be paid to the parents of the bride; but, as it happens, in many cases, that the husband is unable to pay this sum, he becomes indebted to the parents for the amount, and this constitutes a third branch of slavery, under the term Tatung'gon. The man and wife reside in the house of the bride's father, and the man performs service in attendance on the family, or in assisting in the cultivation of the land. When the husband is enabled to pay the dowry, he is then at liberty to quit the father’s house, and to maintain an independent establishment, under the term of "Orang Merdika," or free man. If the new-married man, however, behaves to the satisfaction of his wife’s family, it often happens, that after a certain time, the father-in-law consents to remit the whole or part of the dowry, according to the circumstances of the parties.
The punishments for crimes are death, confinement, and selling into slavery; neither torture to obtain confession, mutilation, nor even corporal punishment are used. Theft and robbery are punished with death; and, for murder, treason, and gang robbery, in aggravated cases, the punishment of death is inflicted by breaking the limbs with a hatchet: this, though it assimilates to the manner of breaking on the wheel, does not appear to have been adopted from Europeans, the practice being of ancient date. The party is left to linger, sometimes for several days, before death ensues. All executions are in public. Other capital punishments are usually performed with a creese. Open robbery by daylight is punished by death; but stealing, by confinement only: robbery by night invariably by death. All offences are punished in the jaxa's court which consists of two jaxas and two kancha or registers; the perbakal being the prosecutor. The sentence of the court must be confirmed by the prince, previous to execution, his warrant or lontar, is necessary in all cases; in civil cases, the confirmation of the prince is only required when persons are sold into slavery. A regular table of fees, in civil as well as criminal cases, is exhibited in court; and the amount divided between the members and the prince. In criminal cases, when the punishment is capital, the property is confiscated, and divided in like manner; but, in other punishments, the parties retain their property. Adultery is punished with death to the man, and the woman becomes a slave to the prince. Theft is the most prevalent crime. Adultery is uncommon; perhaps not twenty cases in a year. The husband has the power, by law, to kill both parties at the moment, if he detects them in the fact, but not otherwise.
In their domestic relations, however, the conduct of the Balinese appears unexceptionable; and there is indeed a superior delicacy to what might be expected, and their tenderness towards early age speaks strongly in favour of their natural disposition. The parental authority is exercised with such tenderness, that it is peculiarly striking when taken in the same view with the apparently rude character of the people. They seem to evince a careless indifference to the rod of despotism which hangs over their head; and an air of good humour and general satisfaction prevails throughout. Temperate in their diet, and strangers to drunkenness, the ruling passion is gaming, from cockfighting to an inordinate and unprincipled desire for conquest.—Such is the energy of the character, that it must find some powerful vent; something on which to discharge itself; and, not being subjected to a form of government calculated to repress their energies, they evidently feel no inclination to stand still in the scale of civilization. As a nation, they are certainly invincible, as to any native power in the Eastern Seas. Still maintaining a high and noble independence of character, they perhaps exhibit in a concentrated spot as much of human nature, checked by regulation, and yet not lowered or refined by it, as is to be found in any part of the universe.
Ancient Population of the Islands.
If we contemplate the various nations and tribes which inhabit the southern peninsula of India, and the innumerable islands composing that portion of the globe which is comprehended within Polynesia and Austral Asia, our attention is arrested by the striking uniformity in habits and language which prevails throughout; and which induces the inference, either of one common origin, or of early and very general intercourse.
Such customs as the singular practice of filing the teeth and dying them black, noticed by the authors who have written on Pegu, Siam, Camboja and Tonquin, and prevailing generally throughout the whole Malayan archipelago; the practice of distending the perforated lobe of the ear to an enormous size, noticed in like manner to exist in the same parts of the peninsula, and prevailing throughout the archipelago, in a greater or less degree in proportion with the extension of Islamism; the practice of tattooing the body, noticed among the Burmans and people of Laos, common to many tribes in Borneo, and particularly distinguished in some of the islands in the Pacific Ocean of tattooing, betray a common original; and if it is recollected that this custom, as well as that of plucking the beard, was noticed in south America, the question may arise, in what course or direction the tide of population has flowed. In a recent publication, an idea has been started, in reference to the similarity of the languages, that the population of the Philippines and of the islands in the south sea originally emigrated from America. It will not be required of me to go into any description of those singular appendages to the virile member, noticed by the writers on Pegu, Siam and Camboja, and adopted among many tribes of Borneo and the Moluccas. Whatever may have been the origin of this very singular custom, traces are to be found, even in Java, of the veneration in which it once was held. The practice of triumphing over a subdued enemy may be common to the barbarous state in general; but the deliberate system of man-hunting, in order to procure heads as a trophy of manliness and military gallantry, however it may have originated in this feeling of uncivilized nature, may be ranked among the peculiarities of this portion of the globe.
The language of the different tribes of Borneo is ascertained to bear a strong resemblance to that of the scattered tribes of Camboja, Champa and Laos. The position maintained by Mr. Marsden, that the Malayan is a branch or dialect of the widely extended language prevailing through the islands of the archipelago to which it gives name, as well as those of the south sea, appears to be established and confirmed as our information advances; and, if we except the Papuas, and scattered tribes having curled hair, we find the general description given of the persons of the Siamese and the ruder population of the adjacent countries, which have not admitted any considerable admixture from the Chinese, to come very near to the inhabitants of the archipelago, who, in fact, may be said to differ only in being of a smaller size, and in as far as foreign colonization and intercourse may have changed them.
To trace the sources whence this colonization and consequent civilization flowed, and the periods at which it was introduced into different states, is a subject new to the historian, and not uninteresting to the philosopher.
If we admit the natural inference, that the population of the Islands originally emigrated from the continent, and, at the same time, the probability, that the country lying between Siam and China, is the immediate source from whence such emigration originally proceeded, the history of the Eastern Islands may, with reference to that of Java in particular, in which a powerful Hindu government was without doubt early established, be divided into five distinct periods.
The first division would include the period commencing with the earliest accounts of the population, down to the first establishment of a foreign colony in Java, of which the written annals of the country make mention. The date of this is pretty accurately ascertained, and may be fixed at about the commencement of the sixth century of the Javanese era, or A. D. 600; at which time only the period of authentic history can be considered to commence.
The origin of all nations is buried in obscurity; and, unless we may succeed in obtaining new lights from Siam or China, we shall have but little to guide us, during the early part of this division, beyond conjecture, and such general inferences as may be drawn from a similarity in person, language and usages, still found to prevail among the less civilized tribes. According to the division of Sir William Jones, the original population of the islands were doubtless of the Tartar race, and probably from the same stock as the Siamese. The Javans date the commencement of their era from the arrival of Adi Saka, the minister of Prabu Joyo Boyo, sovereign of Hastina, and the fifth in descent from Arjuno the favourite of Krisna, and the leading hero of the B'rata Yud'ha. This epoch corresponds with that of the introduction of a new faith into China, and the further peninsula, by Saka, Shaka, or Sakia, as he is differently termed, and with the chronology of the Hindus, as explained by Sir William Jones, in which Saka is supposed to have reigned seventy-nine years subsequent to the commencement of the Christian era. But whether Saka himself, or only some of his followers, assuming this name, found their way to Java, may be questionable; and it is not impossible that the Javanese may have subsequently adopted the era, on a more extended intercourse with the further peninsula. A connection would at any rate appear to have existed between Java and Siam; as this Adi Saka is not only represented to have founded the present era of Java, but to have introduced the original letters of the Javanese alphabet, by a modification of the letters used in Western India, and in Siam. It does not appear that either he or his followers established themselves in any authority; and we can trace but little with certainty during the following five centuries. Some of the Javanese accounts refer to the arrival of various settlers during this period; but we find no traces either of a government having existed, or of the establishment of any extensive colony, until the commencement of the sixth century. I should observe, in this place, that the Javanese year corresponds pretty nearly with the Hindu year of Salivarna; and that the word Saka, in Sanscrit, means an epoch or era, and is applied to the founder of an era.
The Javanese occasionally use the numerals for recording dates; but more generally, and particularly in dates of importance, they adopt an hieroglyphical invention, termed "Chondro Sangkolo," in which the different numerals, from one to ten, are represented by particular objects. This is either effected, in buildings and sculpture, by the actual representations of these objects; or, in writing, by the insertion of their names, the meaning frequently having some allusion to the fact which the date records: thus, the date of the destruction of Majapahit, in the Javanese year 1400, is recorded as follows, the order of the numerals being reversed:—
Sirna ilang Kertaning—Burni.
Gone—gone—is the work—of the land.
0041
Anterior to this supposed arrival of Adi Saka, the two most eventful periods in the history of these countries of which tradition and history make mention, are—first, that which includes the excursions of the far-famed race, which have been supposed to have peopled South America, and according to Sir William Jones, "imported into the furthest parts of Asia, the rites and fabulous history of Rama;" and secondly, that which includes the consequences of the invasion of India by Alexander the Great. That the fabulous history of Rama as well as the exploits of Alexander, have been current in the Malayan archipelago from time immemorial, cannot be questioned; and it may be remarked, that while the Javans use the term Rama for father, the Malays universally attempt to trace their descent from Alexander or his followers. Sumatra was long considered to have been the Taprobanè of the ancients; and, when we advert to the single circumstance, that this was said to be a country in which the north polar star was not visible, or only partially, we must still doubt the correctness of the modern conclusion in favour of Ceylon. The eastern islands furnish that peculiar kind of produce which has from the earliest times, been in demand by continental nations, and the same avidity with which, in modern days, Europeans contended for the rich products of the Moluccas, actuated, in all probability, at a much earlier period, adventurers from Western India. Traces of intercourse with Ethiopia may be found at this day, in the scattered tribes of the woolly-haired race peculiar to Africa, which are to be found in the Andamans, in the southern part of the further peninsula, and throughout the archipelago; and that the Hindus were at one period an enterprizing and commercial nation, may, I think, be established, with little difficulty, from the incontestable proofs which at this day exist in Java, and the traffic which still exists in native vessels and on native capital between the Coromandel coast and the Malayan peninsula. If any country, therefore, in the archipelago, lays claim to this distinction more than another, it is Java; but, probably, it was rather to the Eastern Islands generally, than to one island in particular, that the appellation was given. Both Ptolemy and the Arabians would seem to have distinguished the islands by one general name. By the one they were termed "Jabadios Insulæ;" by the others, "Jau or Jawa;" and hence, probably, the confusion in the travels of Marco Polo, and the still disputed question between Java Major and Java Minor.
The second division would include the period between this first regular establishment from Western India, and the decline and fall of the first Eastern Empire in Java, which may be fixed with tolerable accuracy at about the Javanese year 1000, or A. D. 1073.
During this period, by far the most eventful in the history of Java, we shall find that colonies of foreigners established themselves, not only in Java, but in various other islands of the archipelago; that the arts, particularly those of architecture and sculpture, flourished in a superior degree, and that the language, literature and institutions of the continent of India were transfused in various directions through the oriental islands. It was during this period, that the principal temples, of which the ruins now exist in Java, were built; and beside the concurring testimonies of tradition, and the written compositions of the country, the numerous inscriptions and dates, on stone and copper, the characters of which we are now able to decypher, as well as the ancient coins, would lend essential aid in establishing a correct chronology. On the one hand, it would be our task to direct our inquiries to the history of the various continental nations whence these foreigners may have proceeded; and, on the other, to the nature and extent of the establishments, intercourse, and civilization introduced by them into the different islands.
This period will commence from the arrival of Awap, the reputed son of Balia Atcha, sovereign of Kudjirat, who came in search of a celebrated country, described in the writings of Saka, and who, under the name of Sewelo Cholo, established the first regular monarchy of which the Javanese annals make mention; and include the adventures of the celebrated Panji, the pride and admiration of succeeding ages. Our attention would also be directed, in a particular manner, to the intercourse between Java and the other islands, and the nature and extent of the foreign establishments formed by Java. Tradition, and the popular romances of the country, represent, not only the kingdoms of Goa and Luhu in Celebes, but even the kingdom of Menangkabaú, in Sumatra, to have been established about the conclusion of this period, by princes from Java.
The third division would include the period from the above date to the final overthrow of the second Eastern Empire, in the Javanese year 1400. Some idea may be formed of the power and opulence of this second empire, established at Majapahit, from the extensive ruins of that city, still extant. These I took an opportunity of visiting during my late tour and I believe I am within the mark, when I represent the walls to have enclosed a space of upwards of twenty miles in circumference.
Within this period will be included the establishment of the Western Empire at Pajajaran, the subsequent division of the island under the princes of Majapahit and Pajajaran, the eventual supremacy of Majapahit, and the final overthrow of the government and ancient institutions of the country, by the general establishment of the Mahometan faith.
It is during this period that Java may be said to have risen to the highest pitch of her civilization yet known, and to have commanded a more extensive intercourse, throughout the archipelago, than at any former period. Colonies from Java were successively planted in Sumatra, the Malayan peninsula, Borneo and Bali, the princes of which countries still trace their descent from the house Majapahit; and that adventurers from Western India, from Siam, from Champa, from China and from Japan, frequented Java in the greatest number. But the object of the first importance will be, to trace the introduction, progress and final establishment of the Mahometan faith in the various countries where it now is acknowledged as the established religion, and particularly in Java, where we find, that notwithstanding attempts to make proselytes were as early as the commencement of the twelfth century, such was the attachment of the people to their ancient faith and institutions, that these efforts did not effectually succeed till the latter end of the fifteenth century of the Christian era.
A fourth division would commence with the establishment of the Mahometan government in Java, and might be brought down to the establishment of the Dutch in the Eastern Seas, which may be taken as A. D. 1600; and a fifth, and by no means uninteresting period, might include the history of the European establishments, down to the conquests by the British arms in 1811.
The further prosecution of this extensive inquiry would lead me beyond the limits at present prescribed; and I must, therefore, conclude with drawing your attention to the striking similarity between the early state of Greece, and that of the Malayan islands. Change but the names, and the words of Mitford's Introduction to his History of Greece will be found equally applicable to this more extensive archipelago.
"Thus," he observes, "Greece in its early days, was in a state of perpetual marauding and piratical warfare; cattle, as the great means of subsistence, were first the great object of plunder: then, as the inhabitants of some parts by degrees settled to agriculture, men, women, and children were sought for as slaves. But Greece had nothing more peculiar than its adjacent sea, where small islands were so thickly scattered, that their inhabitants, and in some measure those of the shores of the surrounding continents also, were mariners by necessity. Water expeditions therefore were soon found most commodious for carrying off spoil. The Greeks, moreover, in their more barbarous state, became acquainted with the precious metals; for, the Phœnicians, whose industry, ingenuity and adventurous spirit of commerce led them early to explore the further shores of the Mediterranean, and even to risk the dangers of the ocean beyond, discovered mines of gold and silver in some of the islands of the Egean; and, on its northern coast they formed establishments in several of the islands, and Thasus, which lay convenient for communication with the most productive mines, became the seat of their principal factory. Thus was offered the most powerful incentive to piracy, in a sea whose innumerable islands, and ports afforded singular opportunity for the practice. Perhaps the conduct of the Phœnicians, towards the uncivilized nations among whom the desire of gain led them, was not always the most upright or humane; hostilities would naturally ensue, and hence might first arise the estimation of piracy which long prevailed among the Greeks as an honourable practice."
Java has long been advanced beyond that state in which piracy and robbery are held to be honourable in the eyes of men; but the picture will be found pretty correct of those islands strickly denominated Malayan.
The superior and extraordinary fertility of the soil may serve to account for the extensive population of Java, compared with that of the other islands, and, when, to the peaceable and domestic habits of an agricultural life, are added the facilities for invasion along an extensive line of coast, accessible in every direction, it will not have been surprising that she should have fallen an easy prey to the first invader. She appears to have lost, by these invasions, much of that martial spirit and adventurous enterprize which distinguishes the population of the other isles; but, at the same time, to have retained, not only the primitive simplicity of her own peculiar usages, but all the virtues and advantages of the more enlightened institutions which have been introduced at different periods from a foreign source. At all events, when we consider that her population cannot be less than four millions, and when we witness the character and literature of the people as it is even now exhibited, we must believe that Java had once attained a far higher degree of civilization than any other nation in the southern hemisphere.
Japan.—You will, however, expect from me some notice regarding Japan—"that celebrated and imperial island," which, to use the words of Sir William Jones, bears "a pre-eminence among eastern kingdoms, analogous to that of Britain among the nations of the west;" and, however slender may have been the information procured, such as it is, I venture to submit it to you, nearly as I received it from the verbal communications of Dr. Ainslie.
It may be satisfactory and gratifying in the first place to observe, that every information which has been obtained, tends to confirm the accuracy, the ability, and the impartiality of Kæmpfer, whose account of Japan is perhaps one of the best books of the kind that ever was written, considering the circumstances under which he was sent. I am assured that there is not a misrepresentation throughout; he was a man of minute accuracy and felicity of talent, who saw every thing as it was, and not through the mist or medium of any preconception. The Japanese observe of him, that he is, in his History, "the very apostle of their faith," from whose works alone they know even their own country. Their first enquiry was for a copy of Kæmpfer; and, endeavouring to evince the estimation in which this author was held by them, their observation literally was, that "He had drawn out their heart from them, and laid it palpitating before us, with all the movements of their government, and the actions of their men!"
Referring you, therefore, to the works of Kæmpfer for an account of their history, institutions, and acquirements, as the genuine data on which this interesting people may be appreciated, I need only offer a few notices on the character which they appeared to Dr. Ainslie to display, during a residence of four months, and as far as he had an opportunity of judging.
They are represented to be a nervous, vigorous people, whose bodily and mental powers assimilate much nearer to those of Europe than what is attributed to Asiatics in general. Their features are masculine and perfectly European, with the exception of the small lengthened Tartar eye, which almost universally prevails, and is the only feature of resemblance between them and the Chinese. The complexion is perfectly fair, and indeed blooming; the women of the higher classes being equally fair with Europeans, and having the bloom of health more generally prevalent among them than usually found in Europe.
For a people who have had very few, if any external aids, the Japanese cannot but rank high in the scale of civilization. The traits of a vigorous mind are displayed in their proficiency in the sciences, and particularly in metaphysics and judicial astrology. The arts they practice speak for themselves, and are deservedly acknowledged to be in a much higher degree of perfection than among the Chinese, with whom they are by Europeans so frequently confounded; the latter have been stationary at least as long as we have known them, while the slightest impulse seems sufficient to give a determination to the Japanese character, which would progressively improve until it attained the same height of civilization with the European. Nothing indeed is so offensive to the feelings of a Japanese as to be compared in any one respect with the Chinese, and the only occasion on which Dr. Ainslie saw the habitual politeness of a Japanese ever surprized into a burst of passion was, when, upon a similitude of the two nations being unguardedly asserted, the latter laid his hand upon his sword!
The people are said to have a strong inclination to foreign intercourse, notwithstanding the political institutions to the contrary; and perhaps the energy which characterizes the Japanese character cannot be better elucidated, than by that extraordinary decision which excluded the world from their shores, and confined within their own limits a people who had before served as mercenaries throughout all Polynesia, and traded with all nations—themselves adventurous navigators.
There is by no means that uniformity among them which is observed in China, where the impression of the government may be said to have broken down all individuality and left one Chinese the counterpart of another. Unlike the Chinese, the women here are by no means secluded—they associate among themselves, like the ladies of Europe. During the residence of Dr. Ainslie, frequent invitations and entertainments were given; on these occasions, and at one in particular, a lady from the court of Jeddo is represented to have done the honours of the table with an ease, elegance, and address that would have graced a Parisian. The usual dress of a Japanese woman of middle rank costs perhaps as much as would supply the wardrobe of an European lady of the same rank for twenty years.
The Japanese, with an apparent coldness, like the stillness of the Spanish character, and derived nearly from the same causes, that system of espionage, and that principle of disunion, dictated by the principles of both governments; are represented to be eager for novelty, and warm in their attachments; open to strangers, and, abating the restrictions of their political institutions, a people who seem inclined to throw themselves into the hands of any nation of superior intelligence. They have at the same time a great contempt and disregard of every thing below their own standard of morals and habits, as instanced in the case of the Chinese.
This may appear to be contradicted by the mission from Russia in 1814, under Count Kreusenstern; but the circumstances under which that mission was placed should be considered. From the moment of their arrival they were under the influence of an exclusive factor, who continued to rain upon them every possible ignominy which can be supposed to have flowed from the despotism of Japan, through the medium of an interested and avaricious man, who dreaded competition or the publication of his secret. The warehouse in which the Russian mission had been lodged was pointed out to Dr. Ainslie, who observes, that, "as the rats were let out the Count and his suite were let in, where they remained for six long months, with scarce room to turn; the mark of obloquy to the Japanese, and the laughing stock of the European factory." So lively, indeed, was the impression of the occurrence, that the chief Japanese officer asked the English commissioner if he too would condescend to play the part of the Russian count!—the officer answering to his own question, "No, I trust not."
The mistaken idea of the illiberality of the Japanese in religious matters, seems to have been fully proved; and the late mission experienced the reverse in a degree hardly credible, and little expected by themselves from the representations previously made to them. The story of the annual test of trampling on the crucifix, at Nanggasaki and the other important cities, is a story derided by the Japanese priesthood. On visiting the great temple on the hills of Nanggasaki, the English commissioner was received with marked regard and respect by the venerable patriarch of the northern provinces, eighty years of age, who entertained him most sumptuously. On showing him round the courts of the temple, one of the English officers present heedlessly exclaimed in surprize, Jasus Christus! The patriarch, turning half round, with a placid smile, bowed significantly, expressive of "We know you are Jasus Christus; well, don't obtrude him upon us in our temples and we remain friends;" and so, with a hearty shake of the hands, these two opposites parted. This leave-taking reminded Dr. Ainslie very forcibly of the story Dr. Moore tells so well of the Duke of Hamilton and himself, taking leave of the Pope. The Pope, who had conceived a regard for the young Duke, on the latter making his congé said, "I know you laugh at the benediction of a Pope; but the blessing of an old man can do you no harm;" and, so saying, laid his hand on his head, and blessed him.
The massacre of Samebarra is by the Japanese attributed to European intrigue; and even Kæmpfer notices that the European ships of war formed the practical breach, through which the Japanese entered, and perpetrated that massacre, to which it would appear they had been originally prompted by others.
That the negociations from England on a former occasion should not have been more successful than the late attempt from Russia, may easily be accounted for, when we reflect on the possibility of the favoured factor having said to them, "Forty years ago your throne has been all but overturned by the intrigue of these heretics; this embassy comes from the king who has married the daughter of the 'head of that caste;' and from whom you can expect nothing less than an irruption still more fatal to your tranquillity." Such an argument, pushed by a narrow-minded and interested factor, could not but carry weight with the Japanese, accustomed to respect and to place all confidence in their western visitors.
They are not averse to the indulgence of social excess; and, on these occasions, give a latitude to their speech which one would hardly suppose they dared to do in Japan.
It is an extraordinary fact, that for seven years past, since the visit of Captain Pellew, notwithstanding the determination of the empire not to enter into foreign commerce, the English language has, in obedience to an edict of the emperor, been cultivated with considerable success by the younger members of the College of Interpreters, who indeed were found eager in their inquiries after English books.
While the commissioner was at Nanggasaki, there arrived a large detachment of officers of rank, who had been out nearly four years and not yet completed one-fourth of a survey on which they were engaged. These officers were attended by a numerous and splendid retinue, and were employed in making an actual survey of every foot of the empire and the dependent isles. The survey appeared to be conducted on a scientific principle, to be most minute and accurate in its execution, and to have for its object the completion of a regular geographical and statistical description of the country.
In a word, the opinion of Dr. Ainslie is, that the Japanese are a people with whom the European world might hold intercourse without compromise of character. For the Japanese themselves, they are wonderfully inquisitive in all points of science, and possess a mind curious and anxious to receive information, without inquiring from what quarter it comes.
In the same spirit let us hope, that now, when
That spell upon the minds of men
Break⟨s⟩ never to unite again—
no withering policy may blast the fair fruits of that spirit of research which has gone forth from this hall; nor continue, under any circumstances, to shut out one half of the world from the intelligence which the other half may possess.
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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