eight of green and yellow nuts a
hundred feet overhead. What wonder if in lands of perpetual summer the
syren song of some "long bright river" should lure the storm-tossed
mariners from the perilous seas to the comparative security of inland
life! The stern environment of Northern poverty stands out in terrible
contrast with the teeming prodigality of tropical Nature, offering all
the richest fruits of earth in full measure to these early wanderers
across the Southern seas.

The mountain railway, curving round ridge or precipice and spanning
sombre gorge with bridge and aqueduct, affords superb views of the
unrivalled plains. Waterfalls foam over granite cliffs; a sinuous river
flings a silver chain round the symmetrical base of Kaleidon, and from
our lofty vantage point we gaze into the luminous green of a million
palms, where the warm heart of a deep forest opens to display the
lustre and colour of molten emeralds. The Soendanese quarter of the
island gives place to the ancient Javanese territory, and Malay
characteristics, though underlying and mingling with every insular
stock, are here modified by a strain of Hindu ancestry, which gives
refinement of feature and grace of carriage. Well-modelled figures and
delicate hands and feet are attributed to the liberal admixture of
royal and noble blood with that of the peasantry, for the ancient
Rulers of Java respected no rights but their own, and the domestic
arrangements of King Solomon prevailed in a kingdom of tyrants and
slaves. Hindu thraldom was intensified under Arab priests, who,
following in the train of piratical Moormen, claimed the sovereignty of
Java under their protection. The gold-embroidered jacket of civil or
military rank, with the _kris_ thrust into a brilliant sash, here
supplements the universal _sarong_, itself of bolder design and glowing
colour in this old-world realm of Mataram, the centre of Java's
historic interest. The crooked blade of the _kris_ is still used in
divination, light and shadow playing over the wavy steel, ever
suggesting cabalistic signs inscribed by an invisible hand on the azure
surface. The _kris_ is popularly endowed with healing efficacy, and the
availing touch of the sacred talisman is an article of Javanese faith.
A hundred varieties of the weapon are found in the Malay Archipelago,
from the gold-hilted and diamond-studded royal _kris_ to the
boat-handled dagger of common use, permitted to all but peasants;
women of the h