The Orang Kaya Said That If I Insisted On
Having Men, Of Course He Would Get Them, But When I
Took him at
his word and said I must have them, there came a fresh remonstrance;
and the idea of
My going on that day seemed so painful that I was
obliged to submit. I therefore walked out over the rice-fields, which
are here very extensive, covering a number of the little hills and
valleys into which the whole country seems broken up, and obtained a
fine view of hills and mountains in every direction.
In the evening the Orang Kaya came in full dress (a spangled
velvet jacket, but no trowsers), and invited me over to his
house, where he gave me a seat of honour under a canopy of white
calico and coloured handkerchiefs. The great verandah was
crowded with people, and large plates of rice with cooked and
fresh eggs were placed on the ground as presents for me. A very
old man then dressed himself in bright-coloured cloths and many
ornaments, and sitting at the door, murmured a long prayer or
invocation, sprinkling rice from a basin he held in his hand,
while several large gongs were loudly beaten and a salute of
muskets fired off. A large jar of rice wine, very sour but with
an agreeable flavour, was then handed around, and I asked to see
some of their dances. These were, like most savage performances,
very dull and ungraceful affairs; the men dressing themselves
absurdly like women, and the girls making themselves as stiff and
ridiculous as possible.
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