. Facts and fancies about Java . A BATAVIA HOTEL tion—I would say un frisson nouveau ifBatavia and shivering were compatible etouffement nouveau better expressedmy sensations, as it flashed upon me in fullnoon-day glory. Noon is its own time, its hourof hours, the instant when those opposingelements of Batavia street-Ufe—the nativepopulation most conspicuous of a morning,and the European contingent preponderantin the evening—attain that exact equipoisewhich gives the place its particular cha-racter ; and when the conditions of sky, air,and earth are attuned to truest harmonywith it. T
. Facts and fancies about Java . A BATAVIA HOTEL tion—I would say un frisson nouveau ifBatavia and shivering were compatible etouffement nouveau better expressedmy sensations, as it flashed upon me in fullnoon-day glory. Noon is its own time, its hourof hours, the instant when those opposingelements of Batavia street-Ufe—the nativepopulation most conspicuous of a morning,and the European contingent preponderantin the evening—attain that exact equipoisewhich gives the place its particular cha-racter ; and when the conditions of sky, air,and earth are attuned to truest harmonywith it. The great, strong, full noon-day sun beatson the stuccoed buildings, heating their white-ness to an intolerable incandescence. It hasset the garden ablaze, burning up the longgrey shadows of early morning to roundishpatches of a charred black, that cling tothe foot of the trees; and making the airto quiver visibly above the scorched yellowgrass-plots. Among their dark leafage, thehibiscus flowers flare up like living flame;. S A BATAVIA HOTEL 17 and the red-and-orange blossoms, droppingfrom the branches of the Flame of the Forest,seem to lie on the path like smoulderingembers. Through this blaze of hght and colour,move groups of gaudily-draped natives—water-carriers, flower-sellers, fruit-vendors,pedlars selling silk and precious stones—theirhead protected from the sun by an enormousmushroom-shaped hat of plaited straw; andtheir shining shoulders bending under abamboo yoke, from the ends of whichdangle baskets of merchandise. Small, brown,chubby children, a necklet their one articleof wear, are gathering the tiny, yellow-white blossom-stars that bespangle the grassunder the tanjong trees. Grrave-faced Arabsstride past. Chinamen trudge along—lean,agile figures—chattering and gesticulatingas they go. But, among the crowd of orientals, noEuropeans are seen, save such as rapidlypass in vehicles of every description, fromthe jolting dos-&,-dos onwards—with itsdiminuti
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