found that the music proceeded from a large open pavilion, where the queen, or principal sultana, was engaged in superintending a dancing-lesson. The pupils were the daughters of court dignitaries and nobles, more than twenty in number, all very young, and evidently taking the greatest pains in the performance of their graceful position drill.
The dancing was accompanied by singing and by the pleasing notes of the gamelong, which may be described as the Javanese pianoforte, played by women seated on the floor, and producing a liquid melody peculiar to itself, and very different from the harsh discordance of Oriental music in general. The youthful figures of the girls in their bright and elegant drapery, their earnest faces and elaborate movements, together with the melodious orchestra, combined to render this by far the most pleasing nautch which I have yet seen anywhere in the East, although it was merely a private performance of beginners. The queen was seated on the floor beside a low table, playing at cards with her maids of honor, and received us most graciously, inviting us to inspect everything, even to his Highness's private apartments, and in fact to make ourselves quite at home. The whole affair was like a scene out of "Alice in Wonderland," and we almost expected to be addressed by one of the sultan's many large dogs, or the tame crested pigeons as heavy as hen-turkeys. We were three European gentlemen alone (for the sultan did not accompany us) in a zenana, received by the inmates with friendly, unembarrassed politeness, and allowed to wander at will through marble halls open on all sides to the light of day: there were no lattices, no veils, no guards, not even any dueñas, for all the ladies were young, and many of them very good-looking. To my companion, a member of the Indian Civil Service, thoroughly familiar with Indian habits and ideas, this kindly reception en famille by the sultan of Djokjokarta was a new and surprising experience. In Hindostan, the Mussulman religion is professed by a small minority only; but Mussulman ideas as to the seclusion of women have a far more general acceptance, although quite foreign to Hindoo traditions and customs.
Travelling in the interior of Java is particularly agreeable; the roads are good, ponies are abundant, and light vehicles for posting are easily obtained. At all places of importance there are comfortable hotels, kept by Europeans and subsidized by government. Without a subsidy such hotels could not possibly be maintained, as they are not used by the natives, and European travellers are rare: in the year 1875 only seventeen strangers are recorded as having obtained official permission to travel in Netherlands India. The Dutch officials, moreover, have the hospitable habits of Europeans in the East, so that it is not easy to see how the hotel-keepers make a living; yet they seem to flourish, and in a country where Malay is the sole vehicle of communication with the people it is pleasant to find an Italian or German interpreter in one's host, who frequently is not a Netherlander.
The light posting carriages are drawn by four ponies, which are changed frequently, and keep up an excellent pace, where the road is tolerably level. At the hills bullocks or buffaloes are harnessed as leaders, and frequently, where the road descends into a deep ravine, the horses' are removed, and a small army of men and boys with ropes attach themselves to the carriage, lowering it into the valley, and hauling it up again on the opposite side. The rivers are well bridged, and these steep inclines, which might be obviated by a little engineering skill at a moderate expense, are the only impediments to rapid locomotion upon the principal roads. The scenery is beautiful and varied, the people and their dwellings are most picturesque, and the total absence of caste enables a stranger, without fear of giving offence, to enter any of the numerous shops and refreshment houses, and partake, along with the natives, of fruit, sweetmeats, coffee, and various refreshing but not inebriating drinks. Everywhere around (especially in Sunda or western Java) eye and ear are refreshed by the sight of fresh verdure and the sound of rushing streams; those who know what it is to ride all day under a vertical sun, without a blade of grass or a drop of water being visible for miles in any direction, can best appreciate the charm of driving along a good road with four stout Makassar ponies through this lovely garden of the tropics.
In order fully to appreciate the scenery and vegetation of Java it is well to ascend one of the volcanic cones in the western portion of the islands, such as the Pangerango Mountain, where an elevation of ten thousand feet can be attained, and which presents a variety of botanical attractions such as can hardly be seen elsewhere. From base to summit the jungle is dense and luxuriant, but you climb gradually from palms, musaceæ and tree-
