Page:Life in Java Volume 2.djvu/56

 40 LIFE IX JAVA.

lofty, noble tamarind trees, which form a shady avenue all along the road. The people we met seemed to be dressed more swellishly, with sarongs of every bright tint, reaching below the ankles; and many of the male sex wore hats like inverted flower-pots, made of bamboo, and covered with paper, painted black and varnished. Others had semicircular combs in their hair, fixed a little above the crown of the head reminding me of the natives of Ceylon, who appear, in many ways, to have a greater affinity to the Javanese than any other Asiatic nation.

Their mode of saluting Europeans struck us at first as very singular ; but after a few weeks of travelling, we soon became accustomed to it. When- ever we approached a native riding on horseback, he would innnediately dismount, and wait until our carriage had passed by, bowing low as we drew near. Frequently a string of peasants, trotting l^riskly homewards, on catching ^siglit of us, would

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