ing with the
Dutch residents and the European shop-people in the towns, there is no
difficulty experienced, since nearly every one can speak English; if
not, recourse can be had to French or German.

[Footnote 6: The cost of such a "boy" is very small (labour
being one thing which is cheap in the island). He is paid from
16 to 18 florins (12 florins = L1) a month; and when travelling
it is usual to give him a half-florin a day for food, otherwise
the hotel charge for servants, one florin a day, must be paid.]

In addition to obtaining the formal permission to travel already
mentioned, in order to see native ceremonies and enjoy big-game
shooting, it is necessary to get recommendations to the residents of the
native regencies, and in any case it is desirable to have as many
private introductions as possible.

But, however well supplied with such recommendations they may be, all
travellers are sure to be more or less dependent on hotels. In Java, as
in other tropical countries, the hotels are large one or two storied
buildings, with rows of rooms opening upon broad verandahs screened with
bamboo blinds, and arranged round courtyards planted with trees. The
general living-room and the dining-room have one or more sides open to
the air, and are arranged with a view to coolness. The style of cooking
in Dutch India is different from that in British India, and has one
special peculiarity the--_rice table_, which will be described
hereafter; and of course there are minor differences, depending upon the
conditions of the place and society. To persons who are prepared to
enjoy life (and this is the spirit in which one should travel), the
little eccentricities and deficiencies will be a source of amusement,
and give additional zest to the travelling experience. But no invalid or
dyspeptic should enter the portals of a Javan hotel. As for
accommodation, suites of rooms can be engaged, but the ordinary
traveller has a large bedroom with the proportion of the verandah
belonging to it; this latter is fitted with a bamboo screen, table and
chairs, and a hanging lamp, and is for all intents and purposes a
sitting-room. The bedroom also is furnished with a view of securing
coolness; the floor is covered with matting, and the furniture is not
very luxurious; its chief feature is a tremendous bedstead. Now, a Javan
bedstead is quite _sui generis_, and requires a ground plan. The
ordinary size is six feet square. It i