Drawn byJldi TPamd. nnattve, o f Java. Snffrawe^Tfy
R l B F M S M T A T l O H ' O E V I S H I T F ,
From a. mutilated stone. Image in. theTemples o f Brambanan.
TZflinburgh. Tub lisTted. by Cons Cable. St C?1820.
IN D IA N ISLA N D ER S. 207
the manners and costume. The kris is frequently
delineated ; and one very conspicuous group represents
a Javanese blacksmith, under a shed of
modern construction, using a pair of bellows of the
peculiar structure of the country, and in the act of
forging. Another peculiarity is the frequent occurrence
of inscriptions never discovered in the
temples of tho first and second class.
I am now to speak of that branch of the antiquities
of the island which relates to statues and
images, perhaps the most valuable of all, as from it
the most distinct inferences concerning the ancient
religion of the people of Java may be drawn. The
different images may be ranged into three classes.
1 st, Images belonging to the genuine worship of
the Hindus. 2d, Images dedicated to that worship
in its decline. Sd, Images of a rude description,
probably of a more ancient religion than Hinduism.
I shall speak of them respectively in this
order.
Genuine Hindu images, in brass and stone, exist
throughout Java in such variety, that I imagine
there is hardly a personage of the Hindu mythology
of whom it is usual to make representations,
that there is not a statue of. Those sculptured in
stone are executed, for such a state of society, with
uncommon skill. Not unfrequently there is a
handsome representation of the human features,
and symmetry and proportion are not disregarded.