Mystic Isles (1930)

vagabonda bunch of pictures present mr. Tom surround the equation as they are home their carnal sends left by magic seniors travelers call it journeys in this place of peril and here we all arrive but are obliged to stay out at sea because there are no toxins part of the coast instead several natives hold a chair you fall into one and take rather I hazardous rider Sean hoping to goodness the rickety thing doesn't fall apart he trying to squirm into a more comfortable position I almost lost whatever change I had in my pockets so decided it was it was cheaper to remain uncomfortable looking around me source of picturesque boats called crowds there was some kind of local celebration going on and from all appearances looked like of the gutter inquiring we found it was a formal affair the town's officials welcoming the arrival of the Dutch resident that's the governor you know the two gentlemen with the pier looking grounds of the mayor the Chief of Police they look quite important doli you would too if you had to wear a hat like that an added zest their life in this terrestrial paradise is an affair of this kind where they seize the slightest opportunity to get themselves out and in their picturesque raft floating upon the glassy waters what a light traveling into the interior we came upon this quaint fridge looks like a huge spiders web doesn't it it's made entirely of bamboo hasn't a nail or a rivet in it underneath was a mass of owning tumbling waters in the intense heat they look delightfully cool a lovely place for a dip and all around here are thousands of acres of green rice paddies for which the island is so famed the profusion of flowers on it violent chashme filling the air with our language Perkins sometimes you come across lakes which are half mud hard water where clusters of lovely hyacinth grow under these flowers leave millions of good early a mudfish which often comes to the surface to breed which the natives considered quite a delicacy scooping them up their bare hands they eat them in their little thatched huts under the shade of sheltering palms at the foot of a banana tree this woman was selling fatty it's a Japanese art you know that dates back for 3000 years I bought several pieces from her she showed me the instrument they used to apply the wax on the baton it's made of thin copper with a bamboo handle and is called a chanting it interested me so I decided to visit a place where they do this artistic work first they procure a fine muslin and draw the design upon it with wax using the chanting the wax is hot and not always flowing regularly in which case the girl gives it a little blow the wax is kept hot in a small brass kettle by her side resting on an earthen pot filled with burning charcoal then after the design is finished they dip each piece in cold I of course the wax would melt otherwise all the colors are vegetable dyes soapy sabbatical he washed without any fear that it will fade if more colors are required the wax and color the places they want to protect with more wax and for every extra color they have to repeat this process so you have a slight idea of the amount of work that goes into making of genuine battie by some pcs take as long as two months to me and it's all done at home great loves of beauty are these people orchids are as common here as our roses actually there are 600 different varieties beautiful isn't it this girl is spinning yarn quite a contrivance but first I wondered what had become of the squirrel the yarn is used the club this little one is beanie she's making a slim game that's a sort of hammock which is slung over the shoulders to carry a baby an unaccounted the briefing she has discarded the upper garment oh we felt like doing the same ah she made a mistake and looks at us for the first time as though to say did you notice that something of old Java is seen in their surviving arts crafts maybe never work carvings in tortoiseshell sword makers or blast workers like this tapping patiently intricate designs upon ornamental trays of brass metal designs including the historical wiring figure you're working and praying O'Hanlon when you find even in their home shrines like this as the old man caps jungle praise ah she was a lovely young thing and I wondered what her prayers might be as she SAT there in movable perhaps they were for the constant love of the store but Brown struggling wildest disappeared from her side as she entered one of their solemn duties is the offering of food to the gods so they may look with favor upon their prayers well leaving here I visited another island where they are still building new temples in which they try to reflect all the glories of the old ones patient and persevering as they are a building of such temples sometimes takes a lifetime notice how with a hand of an artist this native delicately works upon his carving it is a skill handed down from father to son reflecting in such men as this all the arts and glories of past generations these figures are incorrectly called gods but are merely the visual representations of the different forces of nature such as well wind and fire and water and in early times were carved for lack of expression in words each telling a story you're on heroin there's the villain forgetting some of the temples contain as many as 20,000 figures why you would spend days studying the card life history of Buddha alone without even glancing at the scenes of war and love peace one is permitted a certain amount of freedom of course in visiting these old temples yet that our places where no person outside their faces allowed and where you take a great risk in entering I'd heard tales of an old temple with strange rights took place and where once yearly a secret meeting was held of course I didn't believe the stories moving my chance I found myself there or the temptation was strong I I climb the steps lead you to the temple and entered spots of light illuminated the place from various openings as I move forward the first thing that caught my eye was a curiously carved image a strange mixture of the Orient it was a smell of incense I wondered if anyone was around and then stopped for a moment to examine senile replacing it i caughts item of that which I heard min speak of in low whispers the sacred chair then came the impulse to sit in something century zone in which and once rested the center of the divine authority on who died I hesitated and then went on passing statues and other weird looking images I had a feeling once on that throne the spirit of the past will haunt me with its memories or a thousand years turning I was terrified one of the statues moved it was alive with eyes of flame and face of anger next few moments were on endings I i shrunk in the chair then realizing my danger stole quietly away to my amazement playing myself needing the tiller unharmed oh well of course I I should have known that this fierceness was but a part of the earth curious makeup descended from the ages and then I turn on the back and then ease they were praying to the Divine Spirit forgive the defiling outside it didn't take me long to run down the steps in into the country ding and I realized how foolish I but in these enchanting Isles are only gentle lovable people good bright and happy thoughts and filled with the joy of living because they love nature in return Nature has blessed them with the land of luxurious beauty would buy o mystic Isles maybe some meat