order. A Waisya prince may even happen to take a fancy for the daughter of aBramin,
when it becomes expedient that he should be gratified. Mr. Zollinger, in his interesting,
account of Lomboe, gives an example. The young raja of Mataram in that island,
a Balinese, fell in love with the daughter of the chief dewa. In order to possess her, a
friendly legal ceremony became necessary. The Bramin went through the form of
expelling his daughter from his house, denouncing her as “ a wicked daughter.” By
this she lost her rank as the daughter of a Bramin ; hut received into the raja’s house,
she became a Waisya, but at the same time a princess. The Balinese burn their
dead; hut as the ceremony is expensive, the poorer classes often bury them in the
first instance, with the hope of having in time the means of disinterring the bones
for cremation. The wealthy, like the Buddhist nations of Burma and Siam, embalm
the corpse and keep it for weeks, or even months, before the rite of cremation is
performed. The self-immolation of the widow is practised by the Balinese, with
some difference from the practice of the Hindus of India, The suicide is most frequently
practised by stabbing with the kris, when the body is afterwards thrown
into the fire. The wives of the priests; or Bramins, never immolate themselves for
their husbands, which is entirely conformable to the practice of India. The rite is
most frequently performed with the military order; and with the princes, the sacrifice
of two or three women is indispensable. On such occasions the practice is
not confined to wives, for concubines and slaves may equally sacrifice themselves.
Of the time when, or the manner in which the Hindu religion was introduced into
Bali, there is-no record. There is sufficient evidence, however, to1 show that it was
not directly introduced from India, and that no considerable number of Indian
Hindus, possessed of much influence, were probably ever established in the island.
We find in it, for example, no inscriptions-, such as are found in Java, in the Sanscrit
alphabet, or in the character in which i t is usually written,-“ indeed no inscriptions
at all ancient or modern. In Java, the presence of Hindus of influence is-attested
by the ruins of many fine temples,—monuments which it is safe to say that genuine
Hindus alone could have built, since no monuments comparable to them have been
constructed since the- overthrow of their religion, The temples of Bali, instead of
being like the ancient ones of Java; structures of solid masonry on a grand scale,
are mere clay h u ts; nor are there the remains of any of a better description. On
the other hand, not only the religion but much of the civilisation of Bali may be
clearly traced to Java. Thus the sacred language of Bali, the Kawi, is the same as
that of Java, existing in the latter island on inscriptions on stone bearing dates at
least as far back as the 12th century of our time. The present religious writings of
the Balinese are identical with the ancient ones of Java. As to civilisation, this is
proved by a large infusion of the language of Java into the vulgar tongue of the
Balinese,—by the ceremonial language of Bali being almost identical with that of
Java, itself so peculiar in its construction; and finally, by the existing written
character of Bali being the same, with the absence of two immaterial letters; with
that now in use in Java, When I visited Bali in 1814, the priests informed me that
they were the tenth in descent from certain Bramins of the sect of Siwa, who on
the overthrow of the last Hindu state of Java in 1478, fled to Bali and established
themselves there ; but this is but a comparatively recent event.
Bali, small as is its extent, is divided into no fewer than eight independent principalities,
namely, Baliling, Karang-asam, Klongkong,_ Tabanan, Bangli, Mangiri,
Gy an jar, and Badong. Such a division of authority in a small island, and over
which one language only is spoken, is sufficient proof of rudeness and unskilfulness
far beyond the example of Java; which, although it certainly never existed under
one rule, whether Hindu or Mahommedan, frequently possessed states of considerable
extent and power.
Ba LILING, correctly BLELENG-, one of the principalities of the island of Bali,
embracing most of its northern coast, and computed to contain a population of
80,000.
BAMBOO (BAMBUSA); in Malay, B u lu ; and in Javanese, Preng. The word
Bamboo itself is said to belong to the Indian language of Canara, and to have
been introduced into the languages of Europe by the Portuguese. Some species of
this gigantic grass rise to the height of 70 and 80 feet. The bamboo is found throughout
all the islands, both in the wild and cultivated state, and of many species._ The
various uses to which it is- put are well known. The most important are in the
construction of houses, of which it forms the rafters and floors; and in boat-building,
of which it forms the masts, yards, and deck. I t forms the handles of spears, and,
must before the invention of iron, have formed the first weapons of offence and
defence. The bamboo is- still fashioned into utensils for holding both solids and
liquids ’ and before the invention of pottery, was no doubt the material of the only
vessels of the natives. The young shoots are used as a culinary vegetable like with
us asparagus, but asparagus on a gigantic scale, for a. distinguished botanist compares
5 these shoots in appearance to the trunk of an elephant.
KANAJO. A volcanic mountain of the island of Luzon, supposed to be the
« h ig h e s t peak of the Philippine Islands. I t has a crater but no active volcano. The
1 measurement of a Spanish officer makes its height 6534 English feet, so that it is
i not more than half the height of the highest peaks of Java, Bali, and Lomboc. It
F is part of the great Cordillera, and divides the province of the Laguna from those
* of Batangas and Tayabas.
BANANA (MUSA), This prolific fruit is found, wild and cultivated, in every
1 considerable island from Sumatra to the Philippines inclusive, and of its being
indigenous there can be no question. The Malay name is pisang, and the Javanese
gadang, but in every language it has a different one; and besides these two, twelve
i more may be enumerated without, by any means, exhausting the number. The
I f Malays reckon forty varieties of the cultivated banana, and the Philippine islanders
§ carry them to fifty-seven, both people having a distinctive epithet for each variety.
| The qualities are as various as those of our apples and pears, the ordinary sorts being
I very indifferent fruit. The cultivated banana cannot be raised from the seed,—
I indeed the best varieties are seedless. The fruit is always either eaten raw or
B cooked, and never dried and preserved to be used as a substitute for bread-com,
k as in tropical America. Bice, pulses, sago and farinaceous roots supersede its use,
I and are, no doubt, all of them preferable to it. See Abaca.
BANC A. The meaning of the word, which is correctly Bangka, is not, as far as I
I am aware, known, but it is applied with an epithet to several places about the south-
I eastern end of Sumatra. Thus the ancient name of Palembang is Bangka-palembang, and
r Bangka-ulu is the native name of the place which we have corrupted into Bencoolen,
the annexed word in this last case meaning “ head” or “ fountain.” The name of Banca
itself, at full length, is Bangka-musuh, meaning “ Bangka of the enemy.” The extreme
northern and southern parts of Banca are respectively in 1° 28' and 3° 7' south of
i the equator, and its western and eastern extremities in 105° 5' and 106° 56' of east
! longitude. Its northern and eastern shores are washed by the China Sea, and its
southern by the Java Sea. To the south-west it is divided from Sumatra by the
I5 strait which bears its name, about thirty-six leagues in length, varying in breadth
from three to eight. This strait forms the most frequented thoroughfare of the
internal waters of the Archipelago. The form of Banca is irregularly oblong from
south-west to north-east, its greatest length being 120, and its greatest breadth 60
j, geographical miles. Its area has been reckoned at 3568 square geographical miles,, or
about one-tenth part of that of Java. The coast is irregular in its outline, but not
deeply indented, except at its northern end, where it has the bay of Klabat, about
f 20 miles deep. Along the coasts are many islets, the most considerable of which is
Lipar, at its northern end.
Through the whole island there runs a chain of mountains, the highest peak of
which, that of Maras, at the head of the bay of Klabat, is supposed to be 2000 feet
above the level of the sea. The hill called Monopin in our charts, and which is a
I landmark for navigators, is only 967 feet. The island has no lakes, but many
morasses, and numerous small rivers, tangled with mangroves and ratans, and not
navigable except for native boats.
The mountain chain of Banca has the same direction as that of the Malay peninsula,
and of the plutonic part of Sumatra, running from north-west to south-east, and it
I has the same geological formation. The main component of the mountains is granite,
1 containing, tin, gold, and iron. Next to the granite, and in situations of less elevation,
I there occurs an extensive formation of red iron-stone, the laterite of geologists, and
I in the lowest lands an alluvial formation, intermixed with sandstones and breccias,
i- among which occur the washings of tin and gold.
| The plants of Banca are, with few exceptions, the same as those of that part of
! Sumatra in its neighbourhood. The whole island, even to a greater degree than
usual, is covered with forest, the marshy parts of it being impenetrable from tangled
underwood. The timber trees are of great size, and some of them useful. The teak
does not exist, but there is stated to be an oak of great size. The most valuable