Page:Life in Java Volume 2.djvu/211

Rh served in a plantain leaf. After this simple repast, they uttered their usual shout of ''ayu! ayu!'' and we were again on the move.

A short distance beyond this village the mandoer pointed to two hillocks in an open country to our left, known as the hills of Murgowatti, and famous for the ponies bred there; which, he added, owe their strength, agility, and swiftness to drinking from a certain running spring on the slope of one of the hills, said to have been the frequent resort of Simbrani's horses, "the bucket used by them, now become hard as stone, being still to be seen."

Our road, after leaving these famed hills behind, began to be very steep, and by the time we reached Paponan, a small village on the top of a hill, we were two hundred and fifty feet above the town of Tumungong. Here, as from an eagle's eyrie, we had a wide bird's-eye view of the surrounding country. Our coolies, relieved by others, here also received their money, and ran down the