_ CHÉRIBON.
Chéribop fell ónder.. fhe^, European influence,.in the year 1666, and has
now Ipeetfisübject to it one hundred and fifty years. ,It was, among, the first
•sessions made to the Dutch by. the p4n,ce|' Matarew-
This province had, like Bantam, Ibg^n in a state of continued, insurrection
foÈ many years preceding the arrival ;o£ the English. The importance
of the-town-^of Chéribon has considerably declined, 'partly in consequence
.of these conunotions, and partly of epidemic fevers. Hvhich^pre^ailed
some years' ago. ! -
Thfe exlqnsiye and fertile province of Chéribon (||cjffnot, updé£ jthe administration
óf”the; Dutch Company, yiel£. thoje^prqfifs .whi^^efe^pect^d
from its great natural 'resources j especially" ofimaigo,~ coffee, ahd!' teak
tiwbqr. The Sultans of Chéribon, descended from one óf the founders of the
Mahometan Religionigp. Java, .and on that ac<poqnt -ojbject^ o f^ è l^ u s j ve^e-.
ration among the more orthodox Mahometans, , wei-p p 'fïfe
entire management of "the native administration,. "Thef* coffee^dd, other"
produce, exacted from the people, was dejiyqred frythe- §ultan;,;. ai\d> paidfór.
to him. Under this system; the residents of 1Chéribon enjraed-an a n ndal in-
come of from eighty to one hundred thousand dollars (p!pi,'ÖÖ0), while tile
Suftahs were every-year more-and more impoverished. /£Atfffei&gfh'-an itfSur-
rection broke- out._in the year 1800^the„ostensible_ Reason. d f jwhicfe.iwas
the unjust removal of Sultan Kanóman, who had been fraoislped b|y thep
Dutch to Amboina, and thé' real cause "probably fhef'great ^roessmn óf
the common inhabitants, occasioned by the distress of the Stdtans, and» the:
indiscriminate-admission of ;too many Chinese in-thednterior-of the-.coüntry.-
The reinstallatipn ofr Sudtap: fëwrifflWV't, in 1808,-by Marshal Daep.d^]^ did
not appease the minds_of_the people.; and the._unwillingness or inability of
that prince to restore the public tranquillity, led to an entirely- new organization
of the country.
When the island was conquered by the British troops, the rebel, Bdgus
Mdngéh, still maintained himself in the eastern parts of Kramang, in perfect!
defiance of the power of government, sternly rejecting the offers of pardon
and oblivion which were on that occasion offered'to him, and eluding or ,
defeating all attempts to destroy or ensnare him.. -Such was the veneration
in which this man was regarded by the people of these districts, and such
the dread in which he was held by the native chiefs (through whose means
alone
àlone lfiâ58Ç]5fefeërisiôïi wffs to fee a'c’cètnplisÊêcl')tftaMm$ethained in perfect
quiet -andü ,%eélîri-tyv"l''%iintaiHêP*^^'fïesp6n'dencé jwitKv the;i'disaffected
throughout tloetpilpinéê,. -sVeffred*-hisfl-regûllMjMpplies ‘H£ âmihuîïïtidri and
provî&tôôs frfem ^il parts,-»and ëvehHrómÓth'è "fowh. o f'‘Ghéfïbbn, and-^tranquilly
prepared for thé! eWdlPg* ràiny îsêasnmw^appear again in arms and
In1 à ;fe\7- months -àfrer!%hë-'establishment ’óf'auBritöli' resident- in 'the i
district,- thpqîèrsoô'bf Bâguii îëdhgën wàs'sëedréü,1 'and the country reduced
ïó^a^perfegt1 stateCof tranquillity, in which it remained 'during *tne whole
period pf tfeg British’ adibinistratioÆ
^Thê following éxtraets from 5îlie ïcpbrt öf the gentleman^ intrusted with
thé introductipn^hf the land feVenfffe' - fysthfh jfelto1 GHefiboff ’SSay serve
to ^mustrâfe - t n e üfâté10oFfffis" prfeviHcëi'1
“ There is. perhaps, with' Me'^^^pnoffi'of the enviroftlf of Batavia and
u Bantam, no partl4of-the- iaMhd" of-Java -which* has -so‘’séverêly6'Mt' the
«ff'feaS effects of'mismahigémêht°ds: thé'district of Chéribon. These éiïfecès
“ are visible in th'é charahtfe’ffofthè people, who even aihong-tne Jàvàns are
,4 remarkable- fot a careless indifferent to ;thd"pur§niï^cî^aîfi; for- indolence,
2s-ifdr waiit of energy, and-’ For à'credulity-and“ ignorance, frendierïhg them
“ perpetually a prëylô dëluékm. Within ‘'the 'last • ióïty *yeaïs; in parti-
“ culàr, a sériés1'óf mismanagement andfóppFèssiófr- is said to have wrought
*-|l -ifiost' firitaYpurable change in fHë cHaractèr'föF-tKe people, to Have
if 'destroyed--the habits of industry, and consequently fo have changed
*ƒ eVen thé "aspect of the country, so that i f is no longer fb be recognized
“ as the fruitful district which it istófice represented to have-been. Within
the fast* seven-ÿfears, famine, mortality, and-civil commotion; havecon-
tribfftedlio aggravate the evils óf mismanagement, mid in one or Öther
-** form have desolated- sótne óf 4he finest parts^Hf the district.-
“ The history of the civil cbmihotions alluded to afford a” striking iffus-
« tràtion ôf-the-character-bf -mff inhabitants. It certainly gives no cbim-
jj^tenance to the representation of those observers who1 : asèrifee to the
“ Javans in general à character of the "most invincible ‘apathy, -stupidity,
‘{ and' tû'dfilënce, as if these qualities had been irrevocably engrafted upon
“ their very-natures. - A better knolvledge of their real character enables
M us to draw very different inferences, and to asfciftfee' to them a uiiicb larger
2 K 2 “ share
• ■ Iff Mrs Graùfiifd.- 1