A Visit to Java Part 8

----------- ----------- Total 173,384,771 " 197,662,614 "

The Government still produces two-thirds of the coffee crop. In 1889 the amount produced respectively by the Government and the planters was 578,000 and 356,000 piculs.

Of the two chief industries of the island, sugar and coffee, the exports in 1890 amounted in value to fifty and fifteen million florins respectively. To these must be added two new industries--tea and cinchona bark. The former is only in its infancy, and is confined to the immediate neighbourhood of Soekaboemi, the head-quarters of the planting interest in Java. Here there are two important estates, Sinagar and Parakan Salak, which are from 12,000 to 15,000 acres in extent. The latter industry is especially hopeful. In 1890 the area of cinchona plantations was 22,500 acres, and 6,000,000 pounds of bark, containing four per cent, of sulphate of quinine, was exported. This amount is equivalent to half the world's supply for the year.

Of the import trade it is not necessary to say more than that the most important item is that of the various cotton goods, coming mainly from this country, which serve the natives with material for clothing suitable for their tropical climate. It is also important to remember that there are a quarter of a million Chinese residents in the island, by whom all the retail, and part of the wholesale, trade is conducted.

Last year the administration of Java was the subject of a severe criticism in the Netherlands Parliament. The complaints were chiefly directed against the conduct of the Achin war, the opium monopoly, and the continued interference of the Government in the coffee industry. The reply of Baron Mackay, the colonial minister at the Hague, was in substance as follows:--

The Achin war, he said, was the result of unavoidable circ.u.mstances, and neither the Colonial nor the Home Government could be regarded as responsible for the loss of revenue involved in it. He added, however, that "excellent results were expected from the blockade system" now adopted, and that there were already signs that the Atchinese would before long be brought to terms. With regard to the sale of opium, he a.s.sured the States-General that "every possible means were being taken to reduce the sale of the drug, and to remedy its evil effects." He frankly recognized the importance of the question of coffee-culture, but at the same time urged the advisability of maintaining the system for the present. It was not certain, in the first place, that the existing system could be changed with advantage; and, in the second, "no product in the immediate future could be looked for to replace coffee as a source of revenue."

Undoubtedly the resources of Java are at the present time subjected to a heavy strain. On the other hand, it must not be forgotten that (1) the burden of the Achin war may be at any time removed, and (2) all public works are being paid for out of current revenue without recourse to loans. There is, therefore, no reasonable ground for supposing that the present financial difficulties of the Colonial Government are more than temporary. A glance at the balance-sheet of the island for the year 1889 shows to what an extent the difficulties are due to an increasing sense of responsibility towards the natives, and to an intention to eventually open all the industries of this singularly fertile island to private enterprise.

HEADS OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE FOR 1889 IN MILLION FLORINS.

_Revenue._ _Expenditure._

Taxes 40 Instruction 10

Monopolies 31 Army and navy 40

Sale of produce (of this Public works (of this coffee contributes 37, railways cost 10) 20 sugar 2) 49 Administration, etc. 60 Other sources (railways, school fees, etc.) 14 --- --- In round numbers 134 130

When the natives have been educated and the industries of the island freed from unnatural restrictions, financial and commercial prosperity will return to Java.

CHAPTER X.

ON A COFFEE PLANTATION.

The Tji w.a.n.gi bungalow--Coffee plantations-- Cinchona--Native labour--A wayang--Country-bred ponies--Bob and the ducks--Loneliness of a planter's life.

Horace's remark,[18] "Those that cross the sea change temperature, not temperament," is especially true of the Englishman out of England. The room in which I was now seated differed in scarcely anything from the regulation "den" of every Englishman, whether in Scotland or Timbuctoo.

From the French windows I could see smooth lawns and bright flower-beds, while beyond appeared the dark green plantations surmounted with grey mountain heights. Photographic groups and etchings shared the task of decorating the walls with riding-gear and Indian knives. The writing-table was strewn with photograph-frames of all sorts and sizes.

The black "boy" who brought tea and whisky and Apollinaris, alone gave a hint of "foreign parts." The house itself stood 3500 feet above sea-level; but some of the estate (which covered 800 acres) rose nearly 1000 feet higher still. At this alt.i.tude the temperature was never excessively hot: at midday it averaged 70; certainly it never approached the heat of Batavia; and that night I did what I had not done before in Java--slept with a blanket over me.

[Footnote 18: "Coelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt."]

The next morning, two handsome Sandalwood ponies were brought round, and H---- took me over the estate. We rode between coffee and cinchona plantations on roads of various widths cut in zigzags or curves up the mountain sides, sometimes with the sun blazing full above us, sometimes shaded by the light foliage of the albizzias, until we reached a rough stone monument which marked the highest point. In the higher ranges we sometimes came upon a piece of bush with the tall rosamala trees still standing; or caught a glimpse of wide plains, bounded in the far-off distance by lofty mountains.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ROSAMALA TREES. _Page_ 170.]

On more than one occasion H---- stopped to talk to the natives. They were engaged in weeding--the heaviest work on the plantation, since, in the hothouse atmosphere of Java, continual labour is required to keep down the rapidly growing plants of all kinds, which would otherwise impoverish the soil and choke the coffee trees. He usually addressed the _mandors_, or native foremen, but once or twice he spoke sharply to an idle or careless worker. His method, he explained, was to treat them with strict justice, but merciless severity: both were necessary to secure their respect, adding that it was useless for a man who was not respected to have anything to do with native labour.

It was during many such rides, supplemented by visits to the factory and long after-dinner talks with many different persons, that I learnt something of the ins and outs of a planter's life.

Although the Dutch Government are gradually abandoning the "culture" or "Government-plantation" system, the change is too recent to permit as yet of the full development of private enterprise in the island. Even now there are Government plantations in every village, in which the natives are compelled to work without wages. Of course, it is easy to undersell the planters by produce raised on these conditions. In addition to the direct Government compet.i.tion, they complained of export duties on their coffee and cinchona, and of _ad valorem_ property taxes upon their plantations and buildings. Altogether, I gathered, the planters considered themselves very badly treated; but they had just formed an a.s.sociation in order to maintain their interests, and to take concerted action against the a.s.sistant-residents and the officials generally, who sometimes failed to appreciate the benefit conferred upon the country by the making of roads and other similar improvements.

The average size of the Javan coffee plantations is from 400 to 500 acres. At Tji w.a.n.gi there were 500 acres laid down in coffee, and 300 in cinchona. Part of the plantation was new, and H---- had done some clearing since he had taken over the estate. He described the process.

The first thing to be done was to clear the forest. The trees were felled; the light timber--underwood and branches--was removed or burnt, but the huge trunks, bare and blackened, were left upon the ground.

Indeed, I saw many such trunks, affording a curious contrast to the young plants growing around them. After this, he had formed plantations of albizzias (a slight, tall tree, with a foliage resembling that of the accacia), and planted the young trees, when they were sufficiently grown, at intervals upon the ground he had just cleared. Finally, the coffee trees, which had been grown from seedlings, and had remained in the nurseries for a year, were planted in rows, six or seven feet apart, under the shelter thus provided for them by the albizzias. The coffee trees do not bear until their third year. At the fifth year they reach maturity, and then continue in their prime for as long as ten or fifteen years. Those grown upon the higher, and therefore cooler, ranges will sometimes remain in first-rate condition for even a longer time.

H---- gathered a branch to show me the berry. It was like an acorn with the cup taken off in shape, and of a reddish-brown colour. These berries are harvested ordinarily at the beginning of the dry monsoon, _i.e._ in April or May. As the coolies are paid in proportion to the amount they gather, the whole crop is first of all measured. It is then put into a pulping-machine, and the husk or outer covering removed. The coffee is now said to be in the parchment, _i.e._ the two lobes of the bean are still covered by a parchment-like skin, and in this condition the bean is washed down into the fermenting-tanks, where it remains for thirty-six hours. After a final was.h.i.+ng, it is dried in the sun in large wooden trays running on wheels, or else on concrete platforms. Most of the Javan coffee is sent off to Europe while it is still in the husk, in order that it may present a better appearance in the European markets.

At Tji w.a.n.gi, however, the whole work of preparation was done on the estate.

As is well known, the civilized world is indebted for its increased supply of quinine to Mr. Charles Ledger, the naturalist. In a subsequent chapter I have given Mr. Ledger's interesting account of the manner in which he succeeded, after various adventures, in the course of which occurred the death of his faithful Indian servant, Manuel, in procuring a small quant.i.ty of _Cinchona calisaya_ seed from Bolivia, part of which was sold to the British and part to the Dutch East India Governments. It is from the nurseries thus formed that the plantations of Java and Ceylon were stocked.

In Java the cinchona is ordinarily grown by grafting slips from a hybrid or _Ledgeriana_ of known quality on to the _Succirubra_ stem. The succirubra grows fast, but yields only a small percentage of quinine; the hybrid contains from ten to sixteen per cent. of sulphate of quinine. By this device a combination of quick growth and good bearing qualities is obtained, since the hybrid thus formed bears as freely as the graft. The cinchona crop is harvested whenever it is convenient, independently of the seasons, but generally at the same time as the coffee. The quinine is contained in the bark of the tree. The first crop of a plantation consists of branch bark. After the plants have been growing for about six years, a whole row is taken out. In this case the trees are entirely removed not 'barked' at all, and the whole of the bark, even that of the roots, is utilized. It is separated from the wood by beating the stems with sticks or wooden hammers. This is done by women, who sit in circles round large trays, into which they drop the bark as it falls off. It is then left to dry, and afterwards collected and placed in long wooden troughs, where it is stamped fine with heavy wooden stampers. In this condition it is packed into round bales.

Finally, both coffee and cinchona are transported by coolies to the nearest railway station.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WOMEN BARKING CINCHONA.]

It is in respect of labour that the Javan planters have an advantage over those of Ceylon. At Tji w.a.n.gi from 125 to 600 coolies were employed according to the season of the year. They were paid at the rate of 20, 15, and 10 cents (or 4d., 3d., and 2d.) respectively for a man, woman, or child per day; the mandors, or foremen, however, received from 30 to 40 cents per day. Yet so simple and cheap are the necessaries of life in Java, that in this district a good master has no difficulty in getting Javanese or Sundanese natives to work for him at this rate of payment, and the plantation cooly, in spite of his low wages, manages to enjoy his two days' holiday every week in the year.

H---- said that the average cost of living per head among his coolies was not more than 10 cents, or 2d., per day. It should be added, however, that the rate of wages varies in the different residencies. In those in which there are large towns, especially in the eastern districts, the native workers, both coolies and artisans, are paid at a considerably higher rate than they are in the Preanger Regencies.

I have already mentioned the wayang as one of the most popular amus.e.m.e.nts of the natives, and I shall have something more to say about it in connection with the native literature. At Tji w.a.n.gi I had an opportunity of witnessing this performance in its simplest form, _i.e._ the wayang _klitik_, in which the puppets are exhibited themselves to the audience instead of being made to project shadows on a transparent screen. Here, as at most plantations, it was customary for the weekly market, held after pay-day, to be followed by a wayang.

When I reached the factory I found that the wages were being paid. The coolies were seated (or rather squatted) on the ground in rows inside the coffee-was.h.i.+ng shed, while H---- sat at a table, with his manager and foremen standing round him. After receiving their wages, the crowd of natives flocked through the factory gates to an open s.p.a.ce in front of the storehouse. Here the different itinerant vendors had already arranged their goods on stalls or on the ground. There were all manner of cottons and silks, trinkets and hardwares. In addition to these, queer edibles were to be seen--little dishes of pickled vegetables and cured fish, fruits and cakes, even gold-fish. These latter were kept in vessels filled with water, so that the fish could be put back into the ponds again if they were not sold.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A DALANG. _Page_ 179.]

It was a pretty scene, this crowd of bright-coloured humanity. The skin of the Javanese is little darker than that of the Italian, and his clothes are gloriously picturesque. As usual, the hats, jackets, scarfs, and sarongs displayed every shade of colour and variety of pattern. The wayang did not begin until the evening. The chief performer, called the _dalang_, or manager, squatted on the ground before two poles of bamboo placed horizontally at a height of about three feet, into which he stuck the puppets, taking them from a box placed by his side. He chanted a long legendary tale taken from the ancient Javan literature, and dealing with the times before the European occupation of the island. At intervals he broke into a dialogue, when he worked the puppets' arms and legs with wires, so that they seemed to be acting their several parts.

Behind the dalang was a _gamelan_, or series of gongs mounted on a wooden frame much like an ordinary couch. These gongs were struck with wooden hammers by other members of the company, and thus served as an orchestra. It was interesting to observe the deep attention with which the audience followed the movements of the puppets, and listened to the recitations and dialogue. H---- said they would sit there listening for hours, far into the night, without getting tired.

Owing to the restrictive trade policy of the Government, the planters, as a cla.s.s, are much more identified with the native princes than with the Dutch officials. In a subsequent chapter I shall have occasion to speak of the development of horse-racing in Java, and of the support which is given to the movement by the native princes. At Tji w.a.n.gi I was shown a recent importation from Sydney--Lonely, who was destined to lower the colours of the Regent of Tjandjoer recently carried to victory by Thistle, also an Australian horse. The stables (like everything else in Java) were built of bamboo. They were kept in first-rate order. The stalls were occupied chiefly by country-bred ponies, the progeny of the native races of the neighbouring islands of Sandalwood and Timor.

H---- said modestly that his stud was a very small one, but that if I would visit a Dutch neighbour I should see a stud of fifteen racers, beside brood mares. Race meetings and the various social gatherings connected with them are among the most important resources of the planter's life. H----'s nearest European neighbours were seven miles away, and he said that he could seldom entertain visitors at Tji w.a.n.gi, because of the scarcity of game in the neighbourhood. Indeed, the loneliness of the life is its great objection. The case of the Dutch planters is rather different. They are often married, and with their managers, form quite a little society of their own. But an Englishman rarely has the courage to bring a wife so far from home. In most cases it is the near prospect of returning with a fortune which alone makes so isolated an existence bearable.

Under these circ.u.mstances, it was not strange that H---- should keep a number of canine pets. Among them Bob, an English bulldog, was his favourite. He was as good-natured as he was ugly, seldom misbehaving, even when tempted beyond doggish endurance by the proximity of dark skins and waving drapery. On one occasion, however, he did give way to anger; but it must be admitted that he had provocation. H---- had some black ducks which he had carefully reared to ornament the little lake in the garden. One afternoon, when Master Bob was taking his siesta in the neighbourhood of the kitchen, with his small white teeth protruding, after the manner of bulldogs, from his black lips, and gleaming in the light, an unfortunate duck came by. Seeing the white oblong-ma.s.ses in the region of Bob's mouth, she very naturally concluded that they were grains of rice left by the careless quadruped. Acting upon this theory, she hastily essayed to seize the morsel. The impact of her bill upon his nose woke Bob in terrible indignation. A short scuffle and a plaintive quack, and that duck's career was ended. But that was not all. So serious did the bulldog consider this insult to his dignity that, in spite of repeated castigations, he never rested until he had killed the whole of the remaining brood of ducks.[19]

[Footnote 19: Whenever I think of Bob and the ducks I remember that line of Virgil, in which he tells of Juno's hatred of the Trojans--"aeternum servans sub pectore vulnus."]

Bob's predecessor in office had been poisoned by a native cook. "But I got her two months," H---- added, "and told my people that I had sent for another bulldog from England, and that if they poisoned _him_ I should send for six more."

"But you once told me you had your house broken into. How did that happen?" This was in one of our talks in the smoking-room after dinner.

"It wasn't a very exciting business," he replied. "All I know was that the money was gone the next morning. The night before I was very tired and slept soundly; when I woke up I found my despatch-box gone. I summoned my people and set them to look for it; it was found about a hundred yards away, with the papers in it, but the money gone. About a month afterwards I discovered that one of the natives had been spending more money than he could account for, and, by the help of the native police, I got him convicted and sentenced to transportation for four years. There were three men concerned, but the others escaped through insufficient evidence. One of the stable boys had pulled up the bolts of the front door, and the thieves had quietly walked in, taken the box outside, and broken it open. It was a mere accident--my putting the money into the despatch-box instead of into the safe; but, of course, I took precautions against a repet.i.tion of the affair. I had my safe fastened into the ground, and the two safes at the office were built into the wall, as you saw.

"Now, you see, they know there's always a revolver here"--pointing to the desk--"and another by my bedside at night. There are a couple of guns there, but of course they would not be any good, although the bowie-knife hanging by them would. I always have two dogs in the house, one here and one in my bedroom, and there are five or six outside."

[Ill.u.s.tration: COFFEE BERRIES.]

CHAPTER XI.