Page:Life in Java Volume 1.djvu/170

152 which was in the form of a tray, was supported on the horns of a great bull, and that sometimes proving a great annoyance to its bearer, he made occasional attempts to displace it, and the shaking of the world thereby caused he regarded as a sufficient explanation of the phenomena of earthquakes. This is the third version of the kind have heard—the Chinese one being that the I earth rests on the back of a tortoise, whilst the Hindoo's imagination places it on a monstrous serpent.

About eight the sky cleared a little, and we set off on horseback for the Bromok, our party consisting of my wife, Van Rhée, Drahman, a mandor, three coolies, and myself. It was still very misty, only occasional gleams of sunshine, now and then brightening our road, so capriciously does the great orb of day allow the passing clouds to veil him from these mountain tops.

Our road for some distance was very steep and