The Javanese are, in general, well-shaped; of a light-brown colour; with
black eyes and hair, their eyes being much sunk in the head. They have
flattish noses and large mouths. In figure, they are generally thin,
though muscular; here and there only a corpulent person being seen. The
women, when young, have softer features than the men; but when they grow
old, it is difficult to conceive any human being more hideous than they
become. A man's dress consists of a pair of linen breeches, scarcely
reaching half-way down the thighs, and over this a sort of shirt of blue
or black coarse cotton cloth, which hangs loose below the knee. The
hair of the head is bound up in a handkerchief, in the form of a turban.
A woman's dress consists of a coarse chintz cloth, wrapped twice round
the body, fastened under the bosom, and hanging down to the calf of the
leg; over this is a short jacket, which reaches to the waist. No
covering is worn on the head, but the hair is bound up in a fillet, and
fastened at the back of the head with large pins. Sometimes chaplets of
flowers are worn. Children run about without clothes till they are
eight years old. Of course, I have been speaking only of the lower
classes. The upper generally dress with great magnificence.
The Javanese are not much employed as domestic servants, but slaves have
been brought from the coast of Bengal, Malabar, Sumatra, and other
parts, as well as from Celebes, and often become very accomplished
servants. They are generally well-treated, and behave well; but their
great vice is gaming, to which they are tempted by the Chinese, who keep
the gaming-houses, and are much too cunning to allow the poor slaves to
regain what they may have lost. This vice, as is the case elsewhere,
tempts them to rob their masters and to commit many other crimes, for
the sake of supplying themselves with money to continue the practice, or
to recover what they have lost.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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