Page:Life in Java Volume 2.djvu/122

 106 LIFE IN JAVA.

teen or fourteen, you see frequently beautiful teeth, like rows of pearls, either undergoing, or about to undergo, this disfiguring process.

Amidst the group before us, I was most struck by a very young girl, whose age, I thought could not exceed twelve or thirteen, and from whose face, though she appeared thoughtful, silent, and sad, the childish look had not yet disappeared. Who know but that the instinct of her heart already told her a better destiny might have been hers than that to which she was probably devoted. She was doubtless intended to be the new toy of a middle- aged monarch, and althougli she might revolt against her lot, she could do nothing to change it. She was her master's property until he tired of her, and sought new charms. Most of them, however, looked cheerful and happy, and I was told, by one who knew many of them personally, that they are gene- rally content with their lot, being allowed no end of finery and silly amusements. Tiu-ning to look

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