Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 2.djvu/41

 OF JAVA. ^7 of ingenuity, beyond, indeed, that of all other semi-barbarians. Notwithstanding this, they are suited to the taste of the people, and are not only popular in Java, but have been translated into the Balinese and Malay languages, in which! they are favourite performances. Previous to the introduction of Mahometanism, the Javanese made no attempt to write history, and were as ignorant of chronology as the Hindus, with whom they were so intimately connected. The Mahometan religion brought with it, as it did in India, a more manly and sober style of think- ing, and since the era of that conversion, we are possessed of a tolerably connected and circumstan- tial narrative, improving in credit and in approxi- mation to common sense as we descend. Even yet, however, history is considered rather an object of amusement than of utility and instruc- tion. Like most of other compositions it is written in verse, and a constant attempt is made to give every transaction, even the most common, an air of romance, — to make in short a tale of it. A com- mon-place conversation, for these are most circum- stantially narrated, is delivered in solemn and la- boured measure ; and the petty action of a Java- nese chief with the Dutch East India Company, becomes an ambitious imitation of one of the bat- tles of the Mahabarat, or of the combats of the god or hero Rama with the giant Rawana.