Page:Life in Java Volume 1.djvu/119

Rh Outside the gates were a number of Javanese women, waiting to charm the poor soldier with their wiles and graces, and rob him of his wretched pittance. The women of doubtful character seen within and without the Dutch forts are a disgrace to the otherwise well-regulated system of Dutch military Government. Dutch soldiers, being discouraged from taking wives out with them, on the plea that the promotion of married men does not follow so rapidly as that of those who are single, form despicable unions; and the degenerate progeny that springs into being lead a kind of hybrid existence, and are regarded in an indifferent light both by Europeans and natives.

We next went to the Government foundry, built near the river. It is an extensive building, and gives employment daily to three hundred Javanese, besides a large number of convicts. One of the foremen asked us to look at a Nasmyth's hammer, which was just about to commence