of good land ; or, to speak in general terms, the
progressive state of the society towards improvement,
to render the condition of the Javanese cultivator
more comfortable than that of the Hindu
one, notwithstanding the admitted inferiority of the
Javanese to the Hindus in the scale of civilization.
That the habitation of the Javanese peasant is neater,
his clothing and food better, and his modes of
husbandry more perfect, is admitted by all who have
had an opportunity of instituting a fair comparison
between the Hindus and Javanese.
Another circumstance which contributes materially
to the comfort or ease of the husbandman in all
the countries of the Indian islands, is the almost
universal exemption of all lands from taxation, except
those employed in raising bread corn, substitutes
for it, or the materials of clothing. In Java,
it is roughly estimated by the natives themselves,
that one-third of the area of all the arable land is occupied
by the sites of villages, including the gardens
and orchards interspersed with the buildings. It
matters little whether this proportion be accurate
or not; the belief that it is so may, at, least, be admitted
as proof that a very large proportion is so occupied.
A Javanese village, and the same observation
applies to the villages of the other agricultural
tribes, may be described as the mixture of a garden,
orchard, and plantation of useful woods, in thegrove,
formed by which are interspersed the dwellings of
the peasantry. Whatever is grown within the precincts
of the village, as here defined, is free from
direct taxation, among which may be enumerated
a variety of leguminous plants and farinaceous
roots, fruits, materials of cordage, and the useful
and abundant bamboo, of almost universal application
in the domestic and agricultural economy of
the cultivator.
If we would know what is the amount of the revenue
of a sovereign in the Indian Archipelago,
we cannot do this by an examination of the records
of his treasury, nor by the extent of his territory,
but we can commit no great error if we have ascertained
the number of his cultivators. The effective
records of their exchequers do, in fact, consist of
such documents. The revenue in Java, for example,
is mostly paid inkind j but, neither in this shape nor
in any other, does much of it find its way into the
treasury. Almost every one connected with the
government or its administration is paid by assignments
of land ; including princes of the blood, favourites,
officers of state, the army, from its highest
to its lowest functionaries, and the very menials of
the palace. The prince does'not say to his first minister,
“ Your salary shall consist of so much money,
butit shall consist of so much corn, or of theproduce
of the labour of so many cultivators.” He holds the
same language to one of his grooms. The quantity
of land, or, to'speak more in the language of