MALAY OR B

60

Here it is, —a pretty hut in a shady grove. The
hut is made of bamboo.

Our little brown girl helps her mother keep
this hut very neat and tidy. She stuffs pillows
with soft white down that grows on a tree near
by, and she weaves dried grasses into the mats
that are used as _
beds. Then she.
covers them with
pretty cloth.

Her brother
pounds the yellow
husks off the rice
which they will
have for breakfast,
and he gathers a
few cocoanuts and
a bunch of ripe
bananas. The fruit
is eaten raw, but
the mother cooks
-the rice till it is
soft and white. Their only table is a mat, and all
sit around it on the ground while eating. ‘

Now they are ready for the day’s work. “The
coffee berries are turning dark red, and the father
says it is time to pick them. This will be the
work of the mother and the girl, for the father
and the boy must let water in over the rice fields.

A coffee tree is a pretty sight. Jt has rich
gray bark, large green leaves and white waxy
blossoms. In a few months the little seed pods
of the blossoms grow into clusters of red or
purple berries that look like cherries. Our little

girl must be very careful, for while the berries
are ripening other blossoms are growing on the
ends of the new branches. These blossoms must
not be broken. off.

The. berries are spread out to dry, then the
pulp is pounded or rolled “off, and out come the
coffee seeds ready for market.

Java is very near the equator, and by ten
o’clock the sun is so hot that work in the fields
is stopped. Now the brown people sit in the
shade of palm trees and weave baskets. When

   

Brown .People of Fiji Islands.

‘

ROWN PEOPLE.

thirsty they break open cocoanuts and dvink the

cool milk that is inside.

The father says that snares must be set, for
bats have been nibbling the corn and the tender
shoots of the palms. Have you ever seen little
bats that look like mice with wings? Some of the
bats of Java are very large and are called flying

’ fowes. During the day they hang in dark clusters
in trees, but in the evening they flit about in
search of food. This evening the snares and nets
will be set to catch some of them.

By four o’clock the air is cooler, and the father
goes back to the rice field. Now the little girl
will help her mother spin cotton into yarn. Some
day they will weave the yarn into cloth, and
make new clothes for the whole family.

What is the little brown boy doing? ‘There he
goes tripping across the rice fields towards the
south shore. He knows of a cave in which
many swallows build their nests, plastering them
upon rocks. These nests are made of a glue-like
substance, and a few of them will make soup

Many of these nests are sold to

people of other lands.

Nearly all the girls and boys
of Java dress like these in the
pictures. While working in the
sun the boys often wear large
hats made of very thin strips of
bamboo.

The brown’ people are called
Malays. Most of them live on
the large group of islands south-
east of Asia. In some places the
Malays have built cities, but the
white man rules over most of
the brown race. Many of the
Malays are savages, like the
people in the black tribes of
Africa. tet

Find Java on the map on page 115.
is Java from Japan?

What new sights could a Javanese girl see in Japan?
What could shé'see in Tibbu’s home?

What do the pegple of Java eat? Of what are their
clothes made?

for supper.

  

A Java Girl.

In what direction