nd there would still be plenty
for the Rajah. And the "Gustis" or princes who received the rice from
the Waidonos helped themselves likewise, and so when the harvest was all
over and the rice tribute was all brought in, the quantity was found
to be less each year than the one before. Sickness in one district, and
fevers in another, and failure of the crops in a third, were of course
alleged as the cause of this falling off; but when the Rajah went to
hunt at the foot of the great mountain, or went to visit a "Gusti" on
the other side of the island, he always saw the villages full of people,
all looking well-fed and happy. And he noticed that the krisses of
his chiefs and officers were getting handsomer and handsomer; and the
handles that were of yellow wood were changed for ivory, and those of
ivory were changed for gold, and diamonds and emeralds sparkled on many
of them; and he knew very well which way the tribute-rice went. But as
he could not prove it he kept silence, and resolved in his own heart
someday to have a census taken, so that he might know the number of
his people, and not be cheated out of more rice than was just and
reasonable.

But the difficulty was how to get this census. He could not go himself
into every village and every house, and count all the people; and if
he ordered it to be done by the regular officers they would quickly
understand what it was for, and the census would be sure to agree
exactly with the quantity of rice he got last year. It was evident
therefore that to answer his purpose no one must suspect why the census
was taken; and to make sure of this, no one must know that there was any
census taken at all. This was a very hard problem; and the Rajah thought
and thought, as hard as a Malay Rajah can be expected to think, but
could not solve it; and so he was very unhappy, and did nothing but
smoke and chew betel with his favourite wife, and eat scarcely anything;
and even when he went to the cock-fight did not seem to care whether his
best birds won or lost. For several days he remained in this sad state,
and all the court were afraid some evil eye had bewitched the Rajah; and
an unfortunate Irish captain who had come in for a cargo of rice and
who squinted dreadfully, was very nearly being krissed, but being first
brought to the royal presence was graciously ordered to go on board and
remain there while his ship stayed in the port.

One morning however, after about a week's continua