shaft of which is attached a moveable1 noose» and
his principal aim is to cast this noose over the horns
of the deer or wild bull. When he. succeeds in
entangling the animal, he leaps off his horse, and
dispatches him with his spear.
The chace is followed in Java with less ardour
and spirit, and with much less skill. The game
has fled from the extensive plains of the central
portion of the island, which are highly cultivated
and highly peopled, to take shelter in the hilly
country, where they cannot be pursued. Here,
therefore, the chace hardly forms any portion of
the amusement of the people. In the ill peopled
districts of the eastern and western extremities of
the island, the chace is pursued on horseback as
in Celebes, but the deer and wild hog are rather
beset than fairly pursued, an attempt being made
to surround their haunts by a multitude of peasantry
assembled for the purpose, while, on their appearance,
they are bayed by dogs, and mangled
with cutlasses.
The tiger is sometimes pursued by the Javanese
with more skill, and in a manner peculiar to themselves.
An extensive circle of spearmen is formed
round the known haunt of a tiger, which is gradually
contracted, until the animal, hemmed in on all
sides, is compelled at length to attempt an escape by
rushing through the phalanx of spearmen. In this
endeavour he is commonly killed through the numbers
and dexterity of the hunters, and the formidable
length of their weapons.
An amusement of the same sort is often prer
sented, in a mere comfortable manner, before the
¡Javanese sovereigns at their palaces, but from the
superior number and dexterity of the spearmen,
and the inferior courage of the entrapped tiger, it
is attended with less risk. Among a great many
exhibitions of this sort to which I have been-witness,
I never knew an instance in which the tiger
was not destroyed without the least difficulty.
The love of dancing, in a variety of shapes, is
a favourite passion of the Indian islanders. It is
somewhat more, indeed, than an amusement, often
mingling itself with the more serious business
of life. Dancing, as practised by them, is neither
the art, as it exists among the savages of America,
nor among the Hindus and Mahomedans, of
Western India. Like the latter, they have professed
dancing women, who exhibit for hire ; but,
like the former, they occasionally dance themselves,
and in public processions, and even more
serious occasions, dancing forms a portion of the
solemnities.
Whatever be the occasion in which dancing is
exhibited, it is always grave, stately, and slow,
never gay nor animated. As in all Asiatic dancing,
it is not the legs but the body, and especially
the arms, down to the very fingers, that are em