THE PEOPLE

Today the beauty of the Balinese has been exploited to exhaustion in travelogues and by tourist agencies, but as far back as r6y records mention that Balinese women were in great demand in the slave markets of Bourbon (Reunion) , where " they brought as much as 150 florins." The traffic in Balinese slaves continued until 1830, and today there is a colony of Balinese in Batavia, the descendants of former slaves.

Their reputation for beauty is well justified: the majority of the population are handsome, with splendid physique and with a dignified elegance of bearing, in both men and women of all ages. From childhood the women walk for miles carrying heavy loads on their heads; this gives them a great co-ordination of movement, a poised walk and bodily fitness.

Old women retain their strength and do not become bent hags. We were astonished at times to discover that the slender, straight silhouette we had admired from a distance belonged to an old lady with grey hair, walking with ease under forty or fifty pounds of fruit or pottery. Unless physically disabled, elderly people never admit that they are too old or too weak for activity; to " give up " would be dangerous to physical and spiritual health and would render a person vulnerable to attacks of a supernatural character.

Ordinarily free of excessive clothing, the Balinese have small but well-developed bodies, with a peculiar anatomical structure of simple, solid masses reminiscent of Egyptian and Mycenaean sculptures: wide shoulders tapering down in unbroken lines to flexible waists and narrow hips; strong backs, small heads, and firm full breasts. Their slender arms and long legs end in delicate lands and feet, kept skilful and alive by functional use and dance training.

Their faces have well-balanced features, expressive eyes, small noses, and full mouths, and their hair is thick and glossy. Because they are tanned by the sun, their golden-brown skin appears generally darker than it really is, and when seen at a distance, people bathing are considerably whiter around their middles, where the skin is usually covered by clothes, giving the impression that they wear light-coloured pants.

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