THE PEOPLE

LIKE CONTINUAL UNDER-SEA BALLET, the pulse of life in Bali moves with a measured rhythm reminiscent of the sway of marine plants and the flowing motion of octopus and jellyfish under the sweep of a submarine current. There is a similar correlation of the elegant and decorative people with the clear-cut, extravagant vegetation; of their simple and sensitive temperament with the fertile land.

No other race gives the impression of living in such close touch with nature, creates such a complete feeling of harmony between the people and the surroundings. The slender Balinese bodies are as much a part of the landscape as the palms and the bread-fruit trees, and their smooth skins have the same tone as the earth and as the brown rivers where they bathe; a general color earth scheme of greens, greys, and ochres, relieved here and there by bright-colored sashes and tropical flowers.

The Balinese belong : n their environment in the same way that a humming-bird or an orchid belongs in a Central American jungle, or a steel-worker belongs in the grime of Pittsburgh. It was depressing to watch aur Balinese friends transplanted to the Paris Fair. They were cold and miserable there in the middle of the summer, shivering m heavy overcoats or wrapped in blankets like red Indians, but they were transformed into normal, beautiful Balinese as soon as they returned from their unhappy experience.

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