Page:Voyage in search of La Perouse, volume 2 (Stockdale).djvu/389

] from that of the domestic cock. The comb of the wild cock is not red, but of a whitish colour, with a slight tinge of violet, which grows somewhat deeper towards the edges. The greater part of the swamps in the neighbourhood of our dwelling were covered with very large leaves of the nymphea nelumbo, upon which we frequently observed a species of bird similar to that called parra sinensis; and admired the lightness with which it walked over the surface of the water, stepping with its long legs from one leaf to the other.

At a small distance westward of the village of Porou, we saw two colossal statues, called by the Javanese rectio, and in high veneration amongst them. They were both hewn out of blocks of stone eleven feet high; their drapery was very wide, and the physiognomy of the two heads bore a Moorish character. To me it appeared probable that these statues had been erected in honour of some of the Moorish conquerors of the Moluccas; but the natives could give us no information upon this head.

The Dutch serjeant who accompanied us was a passionate admirer of the music of the Javanese. Soon after our arrival at Porou, he sent for a female singer, whose shrill voice was accompanied by two musicians, who played every evening upon