. The golden Chersonese and the way thither. ed. Young girls are not allowed to chewbetel, which stains badly, and have white pearly teeth,but these are considered like the teeth of animals. Theteeth are filed down to a quarter of their natural lengthby means of a hard Sumatran stone or fine steel operation lasts about an hour, and the gums continueswelled and painful for some days. After they haverecovered, the blackening of the teeth by means of betelchewing is accelerated by means of a black liquid, ob-tained by burning coco-nut sliells on iron. Three days 328 THE GOLDEN CHERSONESE
. The golden Chersonese and the way thither. ed. Young girls are not allowed to chewbetel, which stains badly, and have white pearly teeth,but these are considered like the teeth of animals. Theteeth are filed down to a quarter of their natural lengthby means of a hard Sumatran stone or fine steel operation lasts about an hour, and the gums continueswelled and painful for some days. After they haverecovered, the blackening of the teeth by means of betelchewing is accelerated by means of a black liquid, ob-tained by burning coco-nut sliells on iron. Three days 328 THE GOLDEN CHERSONESE. LETTER XX. before the marriage ceremony lienuu is ap])lied to thenails of the hands and feet, and also to the palms of thehands, and the hair is cut short over the forehead, some-thing in the style of a Gainsborough fringe. The wedding feast is a very gi\and affair. Goats andbufllxloes are killed, and the friends, and relatives of thebride send contributions of food. The wedding decora-tions are family property, and descend from mother to. MALAY YOUTH AXi) MAIUEN. daughter, and both bride and bridegroom are covered withflowers, jewels, and gay eml>roidery. The bride sits instate and receives tlie congratulatory visits of her relativesand friends, and after the actual ceremony is over, thenewly married couple sit on a seat raised above the guests,and the sirih and betel-nut are largely chewed. Thereare floral decomtions, music, and feasting, all strangersare made welcome, the young men spend the afternoon in LETTER XX. MALAY CHILDREN. 329 games, among which cock-fightiug usually plays a pro-mineut part, and the maidens amuse themselves in a partof the house screened off from the rest of the guests bycurtains, and made very gay. As religious ceremonies attend upon marriage anddeath, so on the birth of a child the father puts hismouth to the ear of the infant and solemnly pronounceswhat is called the Azan or Allah Akbar, the name ofthe one God being the first sound which is a
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectchinade, bookyear1883
