of an earlier creed than Buddhism or
Brahminism. Archaic sculptures, obelisks, and gateways, massive and
undecorated, recall the architecture of Egyptian sanctuaries, but no
record exists which throws any light on the origin of the extensive
monuments of a forgotten past, though the triple pyramid of Mount Lawu
is still a place of sacrifice to Siva the Destroyer. Pilgrims climb the
steep ascent to lay their marigold garlands and burn their
incense-sticks at the foot of the rude cairn erected in propitiation of
the Divine wrath, typified by the cloud and tempest hovering round the
jagged pinnacles of the volcanic range, which frowns with perpetual
menace above the verdant loveliness of plain and woodland. The
instinctive worship seems one of those hereditary relics of a perished
faith so frequently encountered in Java; a blind impulse for which no
reason can be ascribed by the devotee, swayed by those mysterious
forces of the subconscious self which seem imperishable elements in the
brown races of the Malay Archipelago. The native Court attracts myriad
parasites, and the wealthy Chinese half-castes, or _Paranaks_ of Solo,
with their inborn commercial genius, surpass all competitors in the
pursuit of fortune. The three centuries of mixed marriages have
modified Chinese conservatism, and though the _Paranak_ is severely
taxed, and excluded from all political offices, he remains supreme in
the kingdom of finance, regarded even by the Dutch as an indispensable
factor in the complicated affairs of the island.

The great _passer_ of Solo becomes an endless delight, and the
interminable corridors, where the fumes of incense mingle with the
breath of flowers, convey strange suggestions of antiquity. Simple
meals of rice and bananas progress round cooking-pots of burnished
copper. Pink pomelo and purple mangosteen vary the repast; strips of
green banana leaf folded into cups fastened with an acanthus thorn, or
serving as plates for Dame Nature's prodigality, provide the
accessories of the feast as well as the provisions. The Javanese
populace, wonderfully free from those household cares which involve so
much time and trouble in Northern nations strenuously occupied in
keeping the wolf from the door, and left to carry out their own
inventions, have evolved numerous methods of blending the different
metals--steel and iron, brass and silver. The veinings of the _kris_,
beautiful as those of any Toledo blade, are produced by the weld