ms that Chinese artists have reintroduced into
this miscellaneous pantheon an element of corrupt Buddhism, though
the natives do not recognize it as such.

The art of Bali is more fantastic than that of ancient Java. The
carved work, whether in stone or wood, is generally polychromatic.
Figures are piled one on the top of another as in the sculptures of
Central America and there is a marked tendency to emphasize
projections. Leaves and flowers are very deeply carved and such
features as ears, tongues and teeth are monstrously prolonged. Thus
Balinese statues and reliefs have a curiously bristling and scaly
appearance and are apt to seem barbaric, especially if taken
separately.[458] Yet the general aspect of the temples is not
unpleasing. The brilliant colours and fantastic outlines harmonize
with the tropical vegetation which surrounds them and suggest that the
guardian deities take shape as gorgeous insects. Such bizarre figures
are not unknown in Indian mythology but in Balinese art Chinese
influence is perhaps stronger than Indian. The Chinese probably
frequented the island as early as the Hindus and are now found there
in abundance. Besides the statues called Pusa already mentioned,
Chinese landscapes are often painted behind the seats of the Devas and
in the temple on the Volcano Batoer, where a special place is assigned
to all the Balinese tribes, the Chinese have their own shrine. It is
said that the temples in southern Bali which are older and larger than
those in the north show even more decided signs of Chinese influence
and are surrounded by stone figures of Chinese as guardians.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 369: I have not been able to find anything more than casual
and second-hand statements to the effect that Indian antiquities have
been found in these islands.]

[Footnote 370: There is no lack of scholarly and scientific works
about Java, but they are mostly written in Dutch and dissertations on
special points are more numerous than general surveys of Javanese
history, literature and architecture. Perhaps the best general account
of the Hindu period in Java will be found in the chapter contributed
by Kern to the publication called _Neerlands Indie_ (Amsterdam, 1911,
chap. VI. II. pp. 219-242). The abundant publications of the
Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen comprise
_Verhandelingen, Notulen_, and the _Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal-,
Land-, en Volkenkunde_ (cited here as _Tijdschrift_