There Was A Rich, Dim Light In The Room, Which Was Cool And
Wainscoted Entirely With Dark Red Wood, And There Was Only One Long,
Low Window, With Turned Bars Of The Same Wood.
There were three
handsome cabinets with hangings of gold and crimson embroidery, and an
ebony frame containing a verse of the Koran in Arabic characters hung
over one doorway.
In accordance with Mohammedan prohibitions, there was
no decoration which bore the likeness of any created thing, but there
were some artistic arabesques under the roof. The furniture, besides
the cabinets, consisted of a divan, several ebony chairs, a round table
covered with a cool yellow cloth, and a table against the wall draped
with crimson silk flowered with gold. The floor was covered with fine
matting, over which were Oudh rugs in those mixtures of toned-down rich
colors which are so very beautiful. Richness and harmony characterized
the room, and it was distinctively Malay; one could not say that it
reminded one of anything except of the flecked and colored light which
streams through dark, old, stained glass.
The Datu Bandar's brother and uncle came in, the first a very handsome
Hadji, with a bright, intelligent countenance. He has lived in Mecca
for eight years studying the Koran under a renowned teacher, and in
this quest of Mussulman learning has spent several thousand dollars.
"We never go to Mecca to trade," he said; "we go for religious purposes
only." These men looked superb in their red dresses and turbans,
although the Malays are anything but a handsome race.
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