n's palace stretches the broad
_aloun-aloun_, its sandy, sun-baked expanse broken only by a splendid
pair of waringin-trees, clipped to resemble royal _payongs_ or
parasols. In the old days those desiring audience with the sovereign
were compelled to wait under these trees, frequently for days and
occasionally for weeks, until "the Spike of the Universe" graciously
condescended to receive them. Here also was the place of public
execution. In the days before the white men came, public executions on
the _aloun-aloun_ provided pleasurable excitement for the inhabitants
of Djokjakarta, who attended them in great numbers. The method employed
was characteristic of Java: the condemned stood with his forehead
against a wall, and the executioner drove the point of a kris between
the vertebrae at the base of the neck, severing the spinal cord. But
the gallows and the rope have superseded the wall and the kris in
Djokjakarta, just as they have superseded the age-old custom of hurling
criminals from the top of a high tower in Bokhara or of having the
brains of the condemned stamped out by an elephant, a method of
execution which was long in vogue in Burmah.

But, though certain peculiarly barbarous customs which were practised
under native rule have been abolished by the Dutch, I have no intention
of suggesting that life in Djokjakarta has become colorless and tame.
_Au contraire!_ If you will take the trouble to cross the _aloun-aloun_
to the gates of the palace, your attention will be attracted by a row
of iron-barred cages built against the kraton wall. Should you be so
fortunate as to find yourself in Djokjakarta on the eve of a religious
festival or other holiday, each of these cages will be found to contain
a full-grown tiger. For tiger-baiting remains one of the favorite
amusements of the native princes. Nowhere else, so far as I am aware,
save only in East Africa, where the Masai warriors encircle a lion and
kill it with their spears, can you witness a sport which is its equal
for peril and excitement.

On the day set for a tiger-baiting the _aloun-aloun_ is jammed with
spectators, their gorgeous sarongs and head-kains of batik forming a
sea of color, while from a pavilion erected for the purpose the Sultan,
surrounded by his glittering household and a selection of his favorite
wives, views the dangerous sport in safety. In a cleared space before
the royal pavilion several hundred half-naked Javanese, armed only with
spea