Page:Life in Java Volume 1.djvu/75

Rh baju, which, being unfastened, exposes to view the greater part of his chest; and should he be a fat man—the fatter he is, the more he is honoured by his countrymen—a considerable portion of his stomach, on which it is, to him, a luxury to feel the coolness of the evening air. Most probably also he will be found chewing the beetle-leaf and nut—a habit which he has contracted from the natives—or in drawing tobacco fumes through a long thick bamboo pipe.

As Europeans pass in their carriages, Chinamen rise, as a mark of respect—a striking contrast to their manner in Singapore and Penang.

The ladies in general associate more with their husbands than they are accustomed to do in the mother country, and are not usually considered so shy—partly owing probably to the fact that they are nearly all half castes, Chinawomen in general having a great aversion to emigration.

The houses in which these industrious people