The Malay Archipelago [pp. 479-495]

The Malay At r c h ip e lago.
into this region, and it was found to be admirably adapted to.
its cultivation. The country rises quite rapidly from the sea
into a high, volcanic region with a rich soil. Arrangements
were made with the village chiefs, who were to receive a certain
per cent. of the produce. The country was divided into dis tricts, and a " controlleur" appointed, who was the general
superintendent of the cultivation of the district. He was
obliged to visit every village in succession once a month, and
send in a report of their condition to the resident. Under the
direction of the Dutch, roads were made, houses built, mission aries were settled in the more populous districts, and schools
were opened. Mr. Wallace describes one of the villages in
this region through which he passed. The main road, he says,
along which the coffee is brought from the interior in carts
drawn by buffaloes, is turned aside at the entrance of the village and passes behind it, and so allows the village street
to be kept neat and clean. In this village the street was
bordered by a neat hedge formed of rose trees, which were
perpetually in bloom. There was a broad central path kept
clean, and a border of fine turf, which was neatly cut. The
houses were all of wood, raised on posts about six feet from
the ground, with a broad veranda and balustrade, and the walls
neatly whitewashed and surrounded by orange trees and flow ering shrubs. He stopped with a native chief, now a major
under the Dutch. His house was large, airy, substantially
built, and furnished in European style, with chairs, tables and.
lamps. Meals were served on good china, while his host sat
at the head of the table, dressed in black, with patent leather
shoes. This man's father was one of those whose dress was
a strip of bark, and whose house was ornamented with human
heads. In this village there was a school-house, its teacher a
native, who had been educated by the missionary at one of
the larger places. School was held every morning for about
three hours, and twice a week there was catechising and
preaching. There was also a service Sunday morning. The
language used was the Malay.
Near the villages were the coffee plantations. The trees are
planted in rows, and kept topped to about seven feet high.
Each tree produced from Io to 20 pounds of cleaned coffee an
nually. The plantations are formed by Government, and cul
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