ceremonies, takes his seat on the throne, the chiefs
of all ranks, from the highest to the lowest, squatting
on the bare ground, the heir to the throne
only being, when in high favour, admitted to a seat
of some little distinction. The troops of all descriptions,
whether those of the household or the rabble
militia of the provinces, then pass before the prince
in review, moving mostly according to the manners
of the country in a strutting or dancing attitude,
and exhibiting costumes the most grotesque
and ludicrous than can well be imagined. Some
appear in the ancient dress,—others in the more modern
garb of the country, and these to an European
are the most becoming; others superadd some
of the more antiquated portions of .the costume of
Holland. The absurd solemnity of some of the
figures, and the extravagant and wild gestures of
others, afford to a stranger a trial too severe for
the most determined gravity.
The public charity to be distributed in conformity
to the institutions of Mahomed, is now displayed
in slow procession, to the sound of a hundred
bands of native music. It consists of dressed
food, chiefly rice, piled up into a conical mass of
four or five feet high, tastefully decorated with
flowers, and each mass supported on a separate litter,
borne along by porters dressed for the occasion.
From their shape and- size, and still more
because they are thought to be emblematic of the
bounty of the sovereign, these masses of- food are
emphatically and figuratively denominated “ mountains.”
After being duly exhibited in procession,
they are carried to the houses of the nobles of rank,
according to their size and qualities, .and, being
thrown down in their court-yards, there ensues
among the retainers of the chiefs an indecent but
amicable scramble for them.
That portion of the festivities of the day which
have their origin in the connection with the European
authority, are not the least remarkable, or
least at variance with the duties of good Mussel-
mans. No sooner is the injunction of the Koran,
the distribution of charity complied with, than 'wine
is served, and half a dozen bumpers are quaffed
off by the Mahomedan monarch and his subjects,
to the health of their European allies and themselves.
The evening, by long established custom,
is passed at the residency of the European chief,
where may be seen every year the strange spectacle
of a Mussulman prince and his court celebrating
the festival of the sacrifice, or commemorating
the death and nativity of the Prophet,
by a Bacchanalian feast in the house of a Christian
! *
* The author has often had the honour of entertaining his
Highness the Sultan of Java on such occasions.