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are mulcted most heavily. Notwithstanding, they manage to make their way, and some of them acquire considerable wealth. Among the many odd customs which distinguish the Chinese in Java is one which would startle the young ladies of England. Beneath the windows of their houses is often to be seen an empty flower-pot, "lying hori zontally on the portico roof." Its position cannot be accidental, because it is seen in so many cases. Nor can it be looked upon as a religious symbol, for then there would probably be one on each house. It is nothing more nor less than a matrimonial advertisement, the plain English of which is: "A young lady is in the house. Husband wanted." The Chinese in Java are regarded with great jealousy both by the Dutch and natives, though they are far more tolerable than in their own country, or in Singapore and Penang. In 1740 a mob composed of soldiers and natives attacked the Chinese, and slaughtered ten thousand of them in a few days.

The interior of Java is peopled mainly by the natives, who are of the Malayan type, of short stature, high cheek bones, brown complexion with a shade of yellow, and keen black eyes. The traveller who wishes to visit the Vorsten Landen, or country of the native princes, must provide himself with a passport, after satisfying the authorities as to his profession, his last place of residence, and the length of time he intends to spend in Java. For the convenience of travellers a system of posts has been established. These are generally at distances of ten miles. "On ordering his first “On_ordering_his horses, the traveller is expected to state the intended day's journey, and the intimation to this effect travels from post to post." Hence little time is lost, es pecially as the horses are kept at full gallop, and run at the rate of twenty miles an hour. This pace, however, is only kept up by the efforts of the lopers, who, like the donkey-boys at Cairo, terrify the poor animals with their voices and whips. The coucer, or coachman, confines himself merely to volleys of that kind of whip cracking which a Javanese driver alone can produce. The great drawback to the postal system is that you can never be sure of your horses when you have ordered them,

Any government officer, who requires horses for the discharge of his duties, can countermand the orders of travellers, and use the horses himself. Sometimes the journey is varied by a sail on the canals, of which, of course, there are very many. A Dutchman could not exist without canals. Some of the canals in Java are from eighty to ninety feet in width, and walled on both sides with solid stone work. In the canal boats the company is often more picturesque than pleasant. Groups of greasy natives, for want of something else to do, occupy themselves "in examining minutely each other's flowing tresses men as well as women-proclaiming ever and anon, by a dexterous movement of the finger and thumb, the capture made, the victim slain!

The Javanese have no regular police force, and yet they contrive to maintain throughout the whole country the most perfect quiet and order. Instead of the complicated police systems of Europe, a plan of village government is adopted, which has the charm not only of simplicity and cheapness, but of the summary administration of justice. The townspeople of Java constitute its police. Each town is divided into so many districts, the division being generally regulated by the localities of the various races. Each of these districts is "under the supervision, and to some extent the jurisdiction, of the most influential man of the neighborhood, who is generally of royal blood, or very high standing." Under this official is the Capalla, whose duty it is to appoint the watches day and night, "the male members of every family taking in turn the duty of watchman.' He occasionally visits the stations, reports to his superior, and supplies the night passes, "without which none can stir out of their campong after eight in the evening." All delinquents are brought first of all to him. If their offence is trivial, he disposes of the case. But when the offender has been guilty of a more serious criminality, the affair is placed "in the hands of the Tumungong, or Pangeran, who, in turn, if the matter proves too intricate for him, sends it up to the European magistrate, who settles it according to Dutch law." The grand advantage of this system is, that every villager has a kind of respon

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who is called the Sultan. Both of these are spoken of as though they were independent princes. But they are almost nonentities, their only glory being titular, and their only independence being that they are allowed to manage their own affairs of state, and to let their lands to Europeans or Chinamen without enforcing the usual tribute of one third. They, as well as all the princes who hold landed property, are permitted to maintain a small army-a kind of militia—but each regiment must have a Dutch major, captain, and ensign. Between the emperor and the sultan there is some little jealousy, the latter having recently declined to offer the homage which his predecessors were wont to pay to the Susuhunan; but, on the whole, they seem very well satisfied with their position. The present Susuhunan, Pakoe Bewono VIII., who was seventy-six years old at the time of Mr. D'Almeida's visit, was so averse to filling the throne of the Bewonos, that on the demise of his father he steadily refused to occupy the vacant seat, giving up his right in favor of his brother." The brother's reign was short, and again he waived his right in favor of another brother. On the death of this brother, in 1859, the old man had no alternative but to take the reins, and he has managed them to the satisfaction. of all parties. His native style and title.

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sibility for the good behavior of his neighbor, as well as the motive of a personal ambition; for every sub- official may entertain the hope of promotion to more honorable office. The weapons employed in the constabulary service are unique. They are the bunday, the kumkum, and the toyah. The first of these is "a short pole, about four feet in length, upon the top of which are tied two pieces of wood, so placed as to meet in an acute angle, and open towards the ends, like the distended jaws of an alligator; the resemblance being made greater by the addition of dried stems of sharp thorns, tied on the two pieces of wood, and looking somewhat like rows of teeth." This formidable weapon is used for the capture of an escaped prisoner. The man into whose keeping it is confided runs at full speed after the hapless victim, and endeavors "to fix the instrument round the neck, waist, arm, or leg of the pursued, who, as soon as he feels the sharp thorns encircling his body, generally comes to a full stop." If the bunday should fail, recourse is had to the kumkum, which consists of a bar of iron in the shape of a small sword, attached to the top of a stave some five feet long. The toyah is more humane in its construction. Its shape is that of a pitchfork with blunted points, and it is used for the purpose of stopping the runaway by bringing him down on his knees. No native is allow-runs thus: Pakoe Bewono, Susuhunan ed to walk in any town or village of of Soerakarta, Senopati, Ingalago, NgabJava after seven in the evening without doer, Rachman, Ponotogomo. With all a light. Some carry torches made of these titles he is wretchedly poor, and small thin split bamboo, lighted at one cannot obtain credit from the tradespeoend, or of bundles of wood "rubbed ple, without producing a written order over with ignitable compounds." Others from the Dutch Resident. Indeed, the have a tumbler of water, with oil on the poor old man is so much under the top of it, on which a wick of pith floats, authority of the Dutch, that he is not supported by corks. This they carry allowed to drive beyond a certain limit about in white pocket - handkerchiefs," without acquainting the Resident of his through which the light shines, without intention, and reporting, on his return, igniting them. The handkerchief has the places he has been to." His private probably been dipped in some solution life is somewhat eccentric. He spends to render it fireproof. the day in a house adjoining his palace, and at night sleeps on a sofa which is never placed two nights consecutively in the same position or the same room. Sometimes, even when it is raining, he obstinately insists on sleeping out of doors on a mat. The Dutch attribute these eccentricities to his fear of the treachery of the natives. The natives.

Though the island of Java is held by the Dutch, a sort of native sovereignty is yet maintained in the Vorsten Landen. The Susuhunan, whose person is held sacred by the natives, is called Kaiser by the Dutch, and by the English the Emperor of Java. There is a second sovereign, of inferior power,

themselves say that "he prefers the open air because he can commune, in the silence of the night, with the spirits of by gone monarchs, or hold converse with his temporal and spiritual adviser, Ngaisatomy, who by day hides herself in a large cannon covered with red cloth, and caged round by trellis-work of bamboo, and is only exhibited to the public on grand occasions." It is believed that this modest and invisible counsellor warns the emperor of the approach of danger.

Mr. D'Almeida was honored with an interview with his Majesty. After passing through a vestibule, the floor of which " was strewed with ends of cigars, roccos, tobacco, and other refuse," and the walls "daubed with red in patches, marking the spots where the careless inmates had expectorated the betel-nut, etc., after having chewed it," the visit

ors waited until their arrival was announced by "two dirty old women, who, to their profession of cake-venders to the court, added that of porters also." A native band having struck up a wild air, the procession, marshalled by some officers of the court, marched to the Pringitan, or Audience Hall.

once more.

"As we approached," says Mr. D'Almeida, "within a few steps of the Pringitan we bowed to his Majesty, who graciously acknowledged this mark of respect by a slight inclination of his head. Mounting the steps, we stopped again on the top one, and all bowed, the officers saluting him with their swords. After advancing a little farther towards him, we came to a dead halt, for the third and last time, and, when about a yard from his royal person, lowered our heads All that remained now was the process of introduction, and Colonel J - having presented us to his Majesty, who shook hands with us, we all set down in a semicircle, in the centre of which, seated on a chair, cushioned with red velvet, was the Susuhunan. His head - dress consisted of a black kerchief, to which were attached several diamond ornaments. In the middle, just above his forehead, was a yellow dahlia, cut and trimmed so as to look like a brooch, in the centre of which blazed a large diamond. He is the only native prince who is entitled to wear this flower on his head, the ornament being regarded as a distinctive emblem, showing that he is looked upon as the most sacred of native princes throughout the whole archipelago. Round his neck were three long collars of diamonds, emeralds, and gold, in addition to a massive gold chain; and

on his left breast some orders, one of which He wore, was that of the Lion of Holland. likewise, a medal which, having sided with the Dutch, he had gained during the Java war. A Geneva watch, the back of which was covered with diamonds, and a number of splendid rings, completed the list of the old monarch's jewelry.

Beside each

individual present was placed a spittoon. in the form of a brass vase ornamented with flowers and filigree work. The one for the especial use of the Susuhunan, which was of solid gold, was placed on the stand."

His Majesty is a widower, and has of this interview "his sister-in-law, niece, never kept a seraglio. On the occasion and two daughters, the latter looking almost as aged and wrinkled as their father, were seated on his right hand." Behind these were dancing-girls and various female attendants, whose movements were very peculiar. "Whenever they were required to minister to the wants of his Majesty or the ladies, they crawled with knees doubled, so that the heels almost touched the nether part of the thighs." They never touched the ground with their knees, and could only have acquired the ability to balance their bodies by long and painful practice. All the servants who came within a short distance of the Pringitan "fell on their knees and made obeisance to the Susuhunan, by raising both hands, clasped as though in prayer, till on a level with their nose.' The same kind of salute was given to the Sultan, and the same ceremonies were observed when Mr. D'Almeida paid him a visit. The Sultan keeps a seraglio, which the lady of our traveller was permitted to enter. Her pen furnishes a vivid sketch of this visit:

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We are bound to add, that the ladies of Java have very bad noses, and very black teeth. The latter distinction, how ever, is regarded as beautiful; and teeth naturally as bright as pearls are disfigured thus by a gradual process. The women of the seraglio, with the exception of one silent and sad-looking girl of some twelve or thirteen years, seemed cheerful and contented. The privilege of unlimited finery reconciles them to their lot. With the exception of the fishing on the north coast, the industrial energies of the Javanese are mainly given to agri

culture. The climate and the natural fertility of the soil offer peculiar facilities. There is a somewhat extensive tobacco culture, which has been prompted mainly by European enterprise.

"The tobacco plant is cultivated in rows, two or three feet apart, on flat ground. When it has attained the height of from four to five

feet, it is cut down and defoliated. The leaves are then tied up in bundles of fifteen, twenty, or thirty, and suspended from bamboo poles running across the interior of the shed, where they are left to dry for twenty days or more, according to the state of the atmosphere. When the leaves assume a yellow tinge, they are taken down, piled one over the other in bamboo frames, and left for a fortnight or three weeks to ferment. They are then examined, and, if found quite brown, are tightly pressed and packed up either in boxes or matting for exportation, or in the bark of the tree plantain for immediate sale."

The natives are great consumers of tobacco; but their favorite mode of using it is not the pipe. The national taste is for chewing. They disfigure their under lip by a nasty habit of holding a large piece of tobacco on it for hours together, after having chewed it. This is even worse than the habit of the Malays, who keep the precious morsel under the upper lip, "giving the ignorant stranger the impression that some hard body, which only a surgical operation could extract, is embedded in it."

The common cotton-tree, the native name for which is cuppoo, is found in great abundance. It grows to the height of fifty or sixty feet, with but few leaves on its branches, from which the pods, in length four inches, and one inch and a

half in thickness, hang. The pods, when ripe, split from top to bottom, showing the cotton," which runs in parallel lines like rows of pearls." The natives have a superstitions regard for this tree. It. is thought to be the abode of the Poontiana, or the spirit which destroys children, and which is supposed to possess a marvellous power of self-transmutation. Most frequently it appears in the guise of a female, but sometimes as a black dog, or as a human corpse, or as a cat. Many wonderful tales are told of the Poontiana, and almost every cotton-tree has a tuft of hair nailed to its bark, as a charm against the machinations of the evil spirit.

Sugar, indigo, maize, and coffee are cultivated to a considerable extent. For the preparation of coffee and sugar the natives make use of the most recent mechanical contrivances. At Boedoeran, Mr. D'Almeida saw a sugar factory worked by steam, in which all the most useful inventions were to be found. He also saw the process of preparing coffee. "The fresh berries," he says,

"when gathered, are thrown into a dentated cylinder, which is turned round by means of steam, and, as it revolves, grates the pulpy covering off the husk or shell in which the berry is contained. These fall into running rills or conduits, which convey them to reservoirs outside the factory, where, by means of rakes and brooms, they are washed clean. The reservoirs are then partially opened to allow the exuvia to escape into some neighboring ditch. The coffee is afterwards taken out and carted to some two and three storied sheds, where it is strewn upon the floors, and left until all moisture is gone. In a day or two it is taken out and spread upon receivers of wood or brick in the open air; and when the husk is found to be thoroughly dry and brittle, it is carried away into another building to be shelled."

But the principal produce of Java is rice. In an average year the country will yield ten millions of quarters; and if there be an abundant supply of water, two rice crops may be secured in one year. The growth of rice requires a very copious and efficient irrigation; hence "sawahs, or rice reservoirs, are always to be these situations being preferred on account of seen in the valleys, or at the foot of hills; the greater facility they afford for keeping the fields under water. They are always so arranged as to follow one another consecutively,

with embankments of mud around each. Situated on a slope, they look from a distancebefore the paddy has attained to any heightlike steps of shining mirrors; but a level view presents more the appearance of a marsh or swamp. The highest reservoir is fed from a spring by means of bamboo pipes, and at one corner of each embankment there is a small opening to conduct the water from thence to the next reservoir, and so on to the lowest When the reservoirs are filled

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value is then put upon the license of each particular farm, and the bidding commences. At an auction at which Mr. D'Almeida was present, the sum of one hundred and eighty thousand rupees was bid for the privilege of selling opium for one year in the town of Ngwaie. The purchaser was a Chinese merchant-the Javanese are rarely rich enough to engage in large speculations. The Chinese genwith water, the husbandman ploughs his severally assist their calculations, at these eral fields, and then selecting an ari slamat, sales, by the use of a sort of ready reckor lucky day, he throws the paddy broad-cast over one or two fields, which we may call nurwhich "consists of an oblong frame series. After the lapse of a month, when the of wood, divided lengthwise into two paddy has grown to the height of half a foot, unequal compartments, with parallel he cuts it out in sods, and separating the wires fixed across, leaving equal spaces roots, he plants them in sawahs, whose waters between each. On these wires are arhe has by this time lowered considerably, ranged balls, which can be shifted up and leaving only such quantities as will prevent down, two being in each small division, the ground from becoming hard and dry and five in the larger one." On the day For the two ensuing months, he has no other occupation, until he is summoned to of sale referred to, the government made gather the rich yellow harvest by which his no less than a million of rupees.

labor is rewarded."

The cultivation of opium is strictly prohibited throughout the island; but as the demand for it is great, and the revenue from its sale considerable, large quantities are imported from India and Turkey. It is due to the Dutch government to say that though the traffic in opium pours vast sums into their exchequer, they discountenance its use by almost all possible means. Venders of it are bound not to sell above a given measure when it has to be taken beyond the precincts of their shops," and licenses for its sale are granted to localities which are chosen yearly-a fresh selection of places being made each year. The idea of this arrangement is that as the places selected one year may be twenty or thirty miles from those chosen the next, the poorer natives, who cannot afford to travel that distance frequently, for the purchase of the fascinating but deleterious drug, are compelled to do without it. Still further to check the trade, the licenses for the sale of it are rated at such prices, that none but the wealthiest merchants can afford to buy them. The day of the opium auction is one of the most exciting in the year. The auction takes place in the house of the regent, and the proceedings are opened by the secretary, who reads out the names of the towns and villages in the residency at which opium may be sold that year. A certain

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The native manufacturers are not on a level with the progress of the people in agriculture. Their mechanical skill is very inferior. All their agricultural implements are rude. Their weaving of cotton and silk fabrics is indifferent. They make a coarse, unglazed, and unartistic pottery. But they are excellent boat-builders, and are clever in particular departments of metal working. The celebrated kriss, or native dagger, which everybody wears, ladies and little boys as well as men, is often of very exquisite design and workmanship, and commands a high price in the market. The paper made in Java from a sort of papyrus is very poor. Their architecture, too, is mean in the extreme. Nothing has been attempted in the way of buildings since the conversion of the Javanese to the Mohammedan faith. In many places are found the ruins of once beautiful structures, and yet beautiful even in their decay; but they all betray their relation to Hinduism, a religion far more poetical, and therefore more inspiring, than that of Mohammed. The temples of Java are unimposing and rude, partly because the people are not naturally inclined to their creed, and partly because there is nothing in it to call forth artistic taste.

The Javanese are very musical. Their music is always extemporary, but singularly sweet. The principal instrument used in their orchestras is the gamalan, which consists of several gongs of vari

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