Page:Life in Java Volume 2.djvu/87

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JAVANESE PRINCESSES.
71

the process of introduction, and Colonel J——— having presented us to his majesty, who shook hands with us, we all sat down in a semicircle, in the centre of which, seated on a chair, cushioned with red velvet, was the Susuhunan. His sister-in-law, niece, and two daughters, the latter looking almost as aged and wrinkled as their father, were seated on his right hand. The niece was what one might term a good-looking Javanese girl, with large dark eyes, and complexion fairer than the generality of natives, probably owing to a liberal application of Bŭdda,[1] as well as to the fact that personages of her rank are but little exposed to the scorching rays of the sun. Her thick glossy black hair was skewered by diamond pins, the precious gems being of unusual size and lustre.

The Susuhnan was in his seventy-sixth year,

  1. Powder made of arrow-root and other farinaceous ingredients.