here as elsewhere hy the Dutch Government, is a
large cathedral-like building, finished in the interior
in an octagonal form. One side is occupied hy the
pulpit, another hy the organ, and the others are for
the congregation. At the time I entered, the pastor
was lecturing in a conversational hut earnest manner
to some twenty Malays and Chinese, gathered around
him At the close of his exhortation he shook hands
with each in the most cordial manner.
From this church I went to the Mohammedan
mosque, a square pagoda-like structure, with three
roofs, one ahove the other, and each heing a little
smaller than the one heneath it. It was Friday, the
Mohammedan Sahhath, and large numbers were
coming to • pay their devotions to the false prophet,
for his is the prevailing religion in this land. By
the gate in the wall enclosing the mosque were a well
and a huge stone tank, where all the faithful performed
the most scrupulous ablutions before proceeding
to repeat the required parts of the Koran. It
was pleasant to see that at least they believed and
practised the maxim that “ cleanliness is next to
godliness.” From the gate I walked up an inclined
terrace to the large doorway, and at once saw, from
the troubled expression on the faces of those who
were kneeling on their straw mats outside the building,
that I had committed some impropriety; and
one answered my look of inquiry by pointing to my
feet. I had forgotten that I was treading on “ holy
ground,” and had therefore neglected “ to put off my
shoes.” Opposite the entrance is usually a niche,
and on one side of this a kind of throne, but what
was the origin or signification of either I never could
learn, and believe the common people are as ignorant
as myself in this respect. Their whole ceremony is
to kneel, facing this niche, and repeat in a low, mumbling,
nasal tone some parts of the writings of their
prophet. Their priests are always Arabs, or their
mestizo descendants, the same class of people as
those who introduced this faith. Any one who has
been to Mecca is regarded as next to a saint, and
many go to Singapore or Penang, where they remain
a year or two, and then return and declare they have
seen the holy city. The first conversions to Mohammedanism
in any part of the archipelago occurred at
Achin, the western end of Sumatra, in 1204. It was
not taught by pure Arabs, but by those descendants
of Arabs and Persians who came from the Persian
Gulf to Achin to trade. Thence it spread slowly
eastward to Java, Celebes, and the Moluccas, and
northward to the Philippines, where it was just gaining
a foothold when the Spanish arrived. Under their
rule it was soon eradicated, and supplanted by Catho-
hc Christianity. Bali is almost the only island where
the people can read and write their native tongue,
and have not partially adopted this religion. On
the continent it spread so rapidly that, within one
hundred years after the Hegira, it was established
from Persia to Spain; but, as its promulgators were
not a maritime people, it did not reach Achin until
five hundred and seventy-two years after the Hegira,
and then its followers had so little of the fanaticism
and energy of the Arabs, that it was more than three
hundred years in reaching Celebes, and fully estab