The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-23 00:00:00

LEARNING THE ALPHABET.

There is a curious story connected with the Javanese
alphabet, whether founded on fact or not I cannot say, but
I should rather be inclined to think an invention, devised to
impress the letters on the mind of juvenile pupils, If such
is the case, we cannot but admire the native shrewdness in
adopt.ng such a plan. A certain priest, whilst walking
through a forest, found he had lost his kriss but feeling
too fatigued to return in search of it, he approached a
woodman busily at work, and begged him to seek it for
him. The latter obeyed, and while he was absent, the
priest and his servant sitting on the clump of a forest tree,
refreshed themselves with some food which they hai
brought with them. Some hours having elapsed before the
return of the messenger, the priest began to feel uneasy at
the proepect of not completing his long journey befo,o
nightfall, and de.r..tchod bis servant in quest of the wood-
man. The fcrmer had not proceeded far, when he met the
messenger returning with the kriss. As his master had
given him strict orders not to come back without it, he re-
quested the woodman to deliver it to him; a request which
the man, who anticipated a reward for his services, refused
to grant. The consequence was that a violent altercation
took place, ending in the death of both.

The story, told in the following manner, serves as a sort
of mnemonic aid to the young Javanese learning their

Letters :

Ho no jto ro ko—He sent them both.
Dho to so wo lo—Who fell out and quarrelled.
Po do djo jo njo—They were equally courageous,
Mo bo tho ngo—Both were killed.
Tne wedding ceremonies of Java, which are of great
length, are fully described, as are also many other
of the native customs. On the whole, these two
volumes may be regarded as presenting an
eminently satisfactory picture of life in Java.

Vacation Tourists and .Notes of Travel in 1862.3.
Edited by Francis Galton, author of "The Art of
Travel." One vol. pp. 524. Macmillan and Co.
The editor of these collected travels may very
Justly describe this new volume as containing great
variety in its contents. The eleven papers here
classed together are about as dissimilar in style and
subject as is well possible. The fist article by the
Rev. N. B. Tristam, describes "a Winter Ride in
Palestine ;" the second, by J. G. Bertram, Esq.
relates to " Fish Culture in France ;" the third is
about " the Turks in Constantinople ;" the fourth,
and one of the most charming of the series, contains
"Letters from the Cape," by Lady Duff Gordon.
As M. Jourdain spoke "prose" all his life " without
knowing it," so Lady Duff Gordon has con-
tributed to a book—and some very in-
teresting contributions they are—without
intending it I " You must have fallen into second
childhood," she says to the friend to whom she had
addressed her original letters, " to think of printing
such hasty rambling scrawls as I write. I never
could write a good letter; and unless I gallop as
hard as I can, and don't stop to think, I can say
nothing; only I fancy you will be amused by some
of my " impressions"—the " you" intended for the
private friend may be very correctly addressed to
the public reader. Like the lady writer, who
naively said of herself " I gossip whenever I please,
and I please whenever I gossip"—so Lady Duff
Gordon, in her unpremeditated sketches, will give
pleasure to the many who may peruse at leisure what
she has hastily penned during the progress of her
travels. The remaining papers are as miscellaneous
and as interesting as those we have already partieu.
larised. "Poland" and "Paraguay," "Sinai" and
" Servia," "The Ancient Shell-mounds of Denmark,"
" The Medical Service of the Federal Army," and
"Wilderness journeys in New Brunswick' divide
the attractions of this very amusing and instructive
collection of the reminiscences of " Vacation
Tourists" and Notes of Travel.

Mexico .Ancient and Modern. By M. Michel
Cnevaiier, Senator and Member of the Institute
of France. Translated under the Author's super-
intendence, by Thomas Alpass. Two vols. Max•
well and Company.
Tile taMe of M. Michel Chevalier on the title