Page:Voyage in search of La Perouse, volume 2 (Stockdale).djvu/390

328 instruments, one of which resembled a dulcimer, and the other a mandolin. Whilst we were employed in preparing and describing our collections, we were obliged to hear, for several hours together, this discordant music, which, however, had always charms sufficient to attract a great concourse of the natives round the performers.

All the airs were sung in the Javanese language. They generally turned upon the subject of love, as our serjeant, who understood the Javanese language perfectly well, interpreted them to us. He told us that these airs were all impromptu as those sung by the singing-women of Java generally are. Ours accompanied her voice with a variety of gestures appropriate to the subject, and especially with certain movements of her fingers of very difficult execution, which were much applauded by the natives. If report does not do them injustice, these singing-women are not distinguished by any extraordinary rigidity of virtue.

On the 20th we returned to Sourabaya.

Citizen Riche and I had formed a plan of spending some time among the mountains of Passervan, to which we had approached very near during our last excursion. They are very high, and we had often heard their fertility much spoken of. Grain is cultivated there with great