Page:Life in Java Volume 1.djvu/104

86 among the Dutch colonists is understood as an intimation to friends and strangers of their being "at home." All visits in Java are made during the evening, and should the inmates feel indisposed to receive callers, the front verandah or the reception-room is not lighted, in which case the visit of any but the most intimate friends would be considered an intrusion.

After tea, while some of the company prepared for the game of "vist," others engaged partners to dance. Entering with many others into an inner apartment, we soon became spectators to several dances enlivened by a native band, who performed European music con brio el con spirito. Most of the gentlemen retired to don their white jackets before the warm exercise of the evening commenced—a change sanctioned by custom in Dutch colonial parties, and certainly more suitable to active exertion in such hot weather than cloth coats. The princes, our fellow-passengers, were