Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 2.djvu/274

 230 ANCIENT RELIGION OF THE where in all ages down to the present, we are led tcr believe that the Telinga people were the chief, or only considerable foreign navigators. Before bringing this chapter on the antiquities and ancient religion of Java to a close, I shall offer some remarks on the circumstances under which Hinduism existed in Java, as it must necessarily have been modified by the manners and character of the society which adopted it. Before entering upon this subject, it will be ne- cessary to examine the character of those supersti- tions which the Hindu religion would have to en- counter. In so rude a state of society as that of the Javanese, the nature of the language affords no grounds to believe that there was any personifica- tion of abstract ideas, but the common objects of nature were personified, and the woods, the waters, and the air, were peopled with deities, the objects of fear, or adoration, or both, with the Javanese. To this day, their belief in these local deities is hardly diminished, after the admission of the su- perstitions of two foreign religions, such is the measure of their credulity. The subject will be more intelligible if I enumerate a few of them. The Banaspati are evil spirits that inhabit large trees, and wander about at night doing mischief. The Bdrkasahan are evil genii who inhabit the air, wandering about without any fixed habitation. The Dammit are good genii in human form, the tute- I