r, indigo, and coffee is carried, in
order to satisfy the constant demands on the colonies of the
Netherlands for money. To this cause may be added, however, the
occurrence of one or two dry seasons;--a rare phenomenon within
the tropics, and attributable, probably, in some degree, to the
vast extent of country recently cleared of forest and jungle to
make way for the plough. No policy can be so blind as that
which compels the poor Javanese to eat imported rice, while
living in a country capable of yielding food for all Europe.]

Slavery still exists in Java, and every Dutch family has its domestic
slaves. The law forbids the importation of fresh ones, and provides for
the good treatment of those now in bondage. It also prohibits the
slave-owner from separating a family; so that the wife and husband
cannot be parted from each other, or from their children, except in the
case of a crime having been committed by a member of the family. In that
case, the guilty party is, on application to the chief magistrate, put
up to auction, and sold to the highest bidder. This, however, is a rare
occurrence, though I have witnessed such sales. The slaves, knowing well
the consequence of an act of dishonesty, are cautious how they venture
to trespass on the rights of _meum_ and _tuum_. I may safely say, I have
never, in all my wanderings, seen a race of people better treated than
the slaves of Java: they are well fed and well clothed; and adults of
both sexes receive a monthly allowance of two guilders (3s. 4d.) under
the name of pocket-money. This sum may seem small; but, when we take
into consideration, that a free man can be hired for eight guilders per
month in Batavia, and for six in the country, on which sum he has to
feed and clothe himself and his wife and children, it will be
sufficiently evident that the slave's allowance is ample, his master
feeding and clothing him and his family. I object _in toto_ to slavery
in any form; but I confess I do not think the slaves of Java would be
benefitted, were their liberty given them to-morrow.

The natives of Java are by no means free from that prevalent Eastern
vice, or luxury, opium-smoking; and the Dutch Government derives an
immense revenue from the article. I have, in various parts of the
Eastern world, seen the evil effects of opium-smoking; but am decidedly
of opinion, that those arising from gin-drinking in England, and from
whisky-drinking in Ir