Page:Life in Java Volume 1.djvu/294

276 Java. The object of these locks is to keep the water at a certain level, so as to irrigate the fields during the dry months, as well as to prevent too great a flow on the crops when an inundation takes place.

On the other side of the bridge we passed through a thickly populated part of the town of Modjokerto, and pulled up before the gates of the Regent's house. An extensive maidan, or alown alown, fully half a mile in circumference, separated us from his large bungalow; and on the other side of the alown alown were the dwellings of the Resident and Pungooloo.

Amongst the number of Verengen trees, two grew directly opposite the Resident's and Regent's houses, known as the married trees, the marriage of Verengens forming a native ceremony. On the wedding-day, numerous guests are invited by the Regent, among whom great feasting and merriment goes on, in the midst of which the young