Page:Java, the wonderland, by Vereeniging Toeristenverkeer, Batavia, 1900.djvu/34

Rh thrones, state umbrella boxes, salvers, betel and tobacco sets of gold, with jewelled daggers and krisses of finest blades, patterned with curious veinings.

Tributes and gifts from native sultans and princes display the precious metals in other curious forms, and a fine large coco de mer, the fabled twin nut of the Seychelles palm, which was long supposed to grow in some unknown, mysterious isle of the sea gods, is throned on a golden base with all the honors due to such a talisman. The ruined temples and sites of abandoned cities in middle Java have yielded rich ornaments, necklaces, earrings, head dresses, seals, plates, and statuettes of gold and silver. A room is filled with bronze weapons, bells, tripods, censers, images, and all the appurtenances of Buddhist worship, characteristic examples of the Greco-Buddhist art of India, which even more surprisingly confronts one in these treasures from the jungles of the far-away tropical island. A central hall is filled with bas-reliefs and statutes from these ruins of Buddhist and Brahmanic temples in which the Greek influence is strongly marked, and in the sculpture of which Egyptian and Assyrian suggestions give rise to much speculative wonder as to their origin.

8. The palace of the governor-general situated in the same square is a beautiful modern structure; but more interest attaches to the old palace on the Waterlooplein built by the great marshal Daendels, and now used for government offices.

In the palace on the Waterlooplein the Raad van Nederlandsch-Indie (Council of Netherlands-India) assembles every Friday. Visitors of the palace should visit the great hall in which the pictures of all the Governors General, (about 60) are displayed.

These are the hours at which the European public go out walking or driving, and enjoy the little coolness which the sunset, varying from 5.45 to 6.15, brings with it.

On Sunday, from 5 to 6, people meet to listen to the public music on the Waterloo-plein.

A walk or a ride along the canal where the shops of Noordwijk are situated on the north side, across the lock bridge, past the post-office and the theatre, leads us to the Waterloo-plein, in front of the Government House, begun by Daendels, and finished in 1828, opposite which, the bronze statue of the founder of Batavia, Jan Pieterszoon