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tions that are valuable both in a domestic and commercial point of view.

The Javans exhibit the general traces of their origin from a Tartar stock; and still retain so striking an affinity in their usages and customs, as, in the opinion of our author, ' to warrant the hypothesis, that the tide of population originally flowed towards the islands, from that quarter of the continent lying between Siam and China:' they exhibit also the milder features of the Hindoo.Mr. Raffles seeins to think that the Asiatic islands were peopled at a very remote period, and long before the Birman and Siamese nations rose into notice: this, however, is mere conjecture; nor do we exactly see how it could well be, if the tide of emigration to the islands flowed from Siam. We may venture however to concur with Mr. Raffles in another opinion, that the striking resemblance in person, feature, language, and customs, which prevails throughout the whole Archipelago, justifies the conclusion, that its original population issued from the same source;' and that the peculiarities which now distinguish them, are the result of a long separation, local circumstances, and the intercourse of foreign traders, emigrants, or settlers:'-thus, the Javans of Java, the Malays of Sumatra, and the Bugis of the Celebes, evidently betray, in their features and language, the same original stock; but the first, by their moral habits, superior civilization, attachment to soil and agriculture, have obtained a broader and more marked characteristic than the other two, who are more maritime and commercial, more devoted to speculations of gain, and more accustomed to distant and hazardous enterprizes. We do not, however, think that this superiority of the Javanese character is so much owing to the greater fertility of the island, as to its being the refuge of an ingenious and highly polished people from the peninsula of Hindostan, of which fact Mr. Raffles has afforded the most unequivocal proofs, which we shall have occasion hereafter to mention more at large.

The Javans are in general of a taller stature than the Bugis, but inferior to the Malays. Their colour is that of virgin gold;' their limbs are slender, their wrists and ankles particularly small; the forehead high; the eye of Tartar cast; the nose small and somewhat flattened; the mouth well formed; the cheeks prominent; the beard scanty; the hair lank and black. The countenance is mild, placid, and thoughtful; and easily expresses respect, gaiety, earnestness, indifference, bashfulness, or anxiety.' The women are in general less good-looking than the men, and when old appear hideously ugly; those of the higher class, who are not exposed to hard labour and to the weather, have a greater share of personal

beauty.

beauty. The manners of the Javans are easy, courteous, and respectful even to timidity: pliant and graceful, the people of condition carry with them an air of fashion and good breeding, and are not in the least disconcerted by the stare of the curious.

Mr. Raffles has given two Tables of the population of Java, The first was taken by the Dutch, and, we are told, is not much to be depended on: the second, by the English government, and under far more favourable circumstances for ensuring accuracy. From the latter it appears, that the population of Java and Madúra, according to a census taken in the year 1815, amounted to 4,615,270 souls, the number of males and females being nearly equal; the average is therefore above one hundred to a square mile. The population of the native capital, Súra-kérta, is estimated at 105,000, and that of Yúgya-kérta at something short of this: that of Batavia had dwindled to 60,000, or about one-half of its former number; on which Governor Raffles observes,

If we look at Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, the capitals of the British government in India-if we look at the great cities of every nation in Europe-nay, if we even confine ourselves to the capitals of the native princes of Java, we shall find that population has always accumulated in their vicinity;—and why was this not the case with the Dutch capital? The climate alone will not explain it. Bad government was the principal cause; a system of policy which secured neither person nor property-selfish, jealous, vexatious, and tyrannical. It is no less true than remarkable, that, wherever the Dutch influence has prevailed in the Eastern seas, depopulation has followed. The Moluccas, particularly, have suffered at least as much as any part of Java, and the population of those islands, reduced as it is, has been equally oppressed and degraded.'-p. 65.

It appears from the records of the Dutch Companies, that the tyranny and extortion of their servants frequently caused the natives to abandon their villages-and drove whole districts into the interior and native provinces. The measures of Marshal Daendels went still farther in producing emigration, by instituting a rigorous conscription of the Javan peasantry. The conscripts were generally sent by water, and a mortality similar to that of a slave ship in the middle passage, took place on board these receptacles of reluctant recruits. Besides this supply for the army, one half of the male population were ordered to be held in readiness for other public services: the making of roads alone, during the administration of Daendels, is stated to have cost the lives of at least ten thousand persons. Other drains are enumerated by Governor Raffles, all of which, however, were immediately removed on our taking possession of the island-and this gave such a stimulus to industry, and begot such a confidence in the people towards the rulers, that the short period even of three or four years afforded the

VOL. XVI. NO. XXXIII.

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strongest

strongest reason to believe that the population of the island was rapidly increasing.

Among the foreign settlers, the Chinese are the most numerous, as well as the most important; these quiet and industrious people, under a system of free trade and free cultivation, would have rapidly accumulated. They arrive at Batavia from China,' says Governor Raffles, to the amount of a thousand or more annually, in Chinese junks, carrying three, four, and five hundred each, without money or resources; but by dint of their industry, soon acquire comparative opulence.' They have few religious scruples; none that prevent them from intermarrying with Javan women, or with the slaves whom they purchase; their progeny are called by the Dutch nákaus: vast numbers, however, who have made their fortunes, return in the annual junks to China. In Java they live under their own chiefs, subject to their own laws; they are more intelligent, more laborious, and more luxurious than the natives; in a word, "they are the life and soul of the commerce of the country.'

per

The Bugis and Malays are established in the maritime towns only; and, like the Chinese, have their own officers, who are responsible to the government for the conduct of the people under their command. The majority of the Arabs on the island are priests; they are a mixed race, and prevail most on the eastern extremity of the island, where Mahomedanism was first planted. The Javans possess no slaves; those which are found on the island are the property of Europeans and Chinese alone, and are generally procured from the islands of Bali and Celebes; they amount to about 30,000. The Dutch did not, especially of late years, encourage the traffic in slaves; and those unfortunate beings who were reduced to that condition, were generally well treated by them.

The condition of the peasant of Java would, under a mild and equitable system of government, be truly enviable. His cottage or hut costs him not more than from two to four rupees, or from five to ten shillings; the pliant bamboo furnishes him with the materials for the walls, the partitions, and the roof: the dwellings of the petty chiefs are larger, but do not exceed in value forty shillings each. Those of the chiefs and nobles are still larger; they have supports and beams of timber, and cost about ten or fifteen pounds. The Chinese have buildings of brick and mortar.

The cottages of the Javans are never insulated, but formed into villages, whose population extends from fifty to two or three hundred inhabitants; each has its garden; and this spot of ground surrounding his simple habitation, the cottager considers as his peculiar patrimony, and cultivates with peculiar care.

He labours to plant and to rear in it those vegetables that may be most useful to his family, and those shrubs and trees which may at once

yield him their fruit and their shade; nor does he waste his efforts on a thankless soil. The cottages, or the assemblage of huts that compose the village, become thus completely screened from the rays of a scorching sun, and are so buried amid the foliage of a luxuriant vegetation, that at a small distance no appearance of a human dwelling can be discovered; and the residence of a numerous society appears only a verdant grove or a clump of evergreens. Nothing can exceed the beauty or the interest which such detached masses of verdure, scattered over the face of the country, and indicating each the abode of a collection of happy peasantry, add to scenery otherwise rich, whether viewed on the sides of the mountains, in the narrow vales, or on the extensive plains. In the last case, before the grain is planted, and during the season of irrigation, when the rice fields are inundated, they appear like so many small islands rising out of the water. As the young plant advances, their deep rich foliage contrasts pleasingly with its lighter tints, and when the full-eared grain, with a luxuriance that exceeds an European harvest, invests the earth with its richest yellow, they give a variety to the prospect, and afford a most refreshing relief to the eye. The clumps of trees, with which art attempts to diversify and adorn the most skilfully arranged park, can bear no comparison with them in rural beauty or picturesque effect.'-p. 82.

Every village forms a community within itself, each having its officers, its priest, and its temple appropriated to religious worship-forming a true picture of the ancient and original form of patriarchal administration. The towns are divided into squares and streets; and the palaces of the princes or sultans are composed of several squares of gradually decreasing sizes, and arranged one above and within the other; a style which is general among the Hindoos, and strongly marks the architecture of the Burmans and Siamese.'

The furniture of the cottage is equally simple with the cottage that contains it, and consists but of few articles; the bed is nothing more than a mat with pillows; the inhabitants use neither tables nor chairs; but sit cross-legged, and, in common with other Mahomedans, make use of the right hand only at their meals. As Mahomedans, they have an aversion from swine's flesh and intoxicating liquors; and many families, preserving the remains of a superstition derived from their Hindoo ancestors, abstain from the flesh of the bull or the cow. Rice is in fact the chief article of their subsistence; they use no milk nor any preparation from it: white ants, grubs and worms are common articles of food. Their rice is frequently boiled in steam, and in this case is beautifully white. Indian corn is usually roasted in the ear; curry, pastry, and sweetmeats are almost in universal use. Various puugent pickles aud condiments are used with almost every species of food. There are few, Mr. Raffles says, who are not able to obtain the

F 2

káti,

káti, or pound and a quarter of rice a day, with fish, greens, and salt, if not other articles to season their meal. Famine is unknown; and although partial failures of the crop may occur, they are seldom so extensive as to be felt by the whole community. Water is the principal and almost exclusive beverage; it is generally drank warm; sometimes a little cinnamon or other spice is thrown into it; and tea is commonly taken between meals. Of these there are two a day -one just before noon, and the other between seven and eight in the evening. The betel leaf and areca nut are indispensable articles for all classes: and the use of that deleterious drug, opium, is far too extensive for the health and happiness of the inhabitants—but it raises a revenue for the government, and on this ground the consumption of it is encouraged.

We must pass over the chapter on the importance of the Agriculture of Java, in which, however, will be found many very curious particulars. It may suffice to state that the Javans are a nation of husbandmen, that to the crop, the mechanic looks immediately for his wages, the soldier for his pay, the magistrate for his salary, the priest for his stipend, and the government for its tribute. The wealth of a province or village is measured by the extent and fertility of its land, its facilities for rice irrigation, and the number of its buffaloes.' This number in the provinces under the British government, containing about half the population, or two millions and a half, was, by a return of stock taken in 1813, found to be 402,054, and of oxen 122,691, while that of sheep did not exceed 5000: of goats there were about 24,000. For the mode of cultivating rice, maize, cocoa-nut, oil-plants, sugar-cane, coffee, pepper, indigo, cotton, and tobacco; and the nature of the tenure on which lands are held, and which is not very dissimilar from that system which, in India, regulates the respective claims of the Ryot and the Zemindar, we must refer the reader to the work itself; in which he will not be disappointed in his research for information on all these subjects. Our limits equally forbid us to dwell on the chapters in which are described the manufactures of Java and its handicraft trades, in all of which, however, it may be observed that the Chinese have a very considerable share. As little could we attempt, in our contracted space, to give any intelligible account of the trade of the island, or follow Mr. Raffles in describing its advantageous situation for commercial intercourse with the Oriental Islands, India, China, Japan, &c. &c.-These chapters would, in our opinion, have come in better after the Manners, Customs, and Character of the natives had been described. To this part of the book we

hasten.

The Javanese are far from being deficient in natural sagacity or docility. Like most eastern nations, they are enthusiastic ad

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