Page:Life in Java Volume 1.djvu/274

256 or coating of petrified matter, comprised of treeroots, pieces of bamboo, &c., having all the appearance of being solid plaster, and in many parts from three to four inches thick. The brook, which runs close by, seems to have the same property for turning everything it comes in contact with into stone. Even the branches of the shrubs growing near the banks of the stream, and long enough to reach the water, were undergoing a petrifying process, being covered with a beautiful coating like crystal or hoar frost.

At certain periods of the year the Javanese make pilgrimages to these ruins, strew flowers upon the altar, and burn large quantities of incense; for though Mahomedans, they have a superstitious reverence for all the old ruined temples and altars of their ancestors, and still follow some of their ancient rites. One Javanese tradition concerning these remains will recall to the reader's mind, very probably, some