m reclining in all the comfort of pyjamas and bare feet. Apparently
the coating of civilization was not sufficiently thin to be congenial.

In the morning the traveller went to pay his respects to the
Assistant-Resident, who received him very kindly, and gave him all the
information he required. This rather interrupted the work of the office
as, whenever the Assistant-Resident turned to any employee to ask how
far such and such a place might be distant, or the tariff of carriages,
etc., the person so addressed, no matter how engaged, would, before
reply, immediately flop on to his knees. The Regent was also calling on
the representative of the Government, and to him the Englishman was
introduced. This native functionary was fat and well-looking, but did
not seem to exactly bristle with intelligence.

The Assistant-Resident very kindly conversed freely with his visitor
about matters affecting the natives, and gave him much information,
which, from the nature of his own work in Pura Pura, interested him
greatly. To those whom the subject interests, the land system in Java is
too well known to need comment here, but there were a few facts learnt
by X. which should remove any idea amongst those who have not studied
the question, that the laws were either harsh or intricate. Indeed, they
seem to attain that brevity and simplicity which are the great
desideratum when dealing with a native peasantry. Thus, a man need pay
no rent until his land is in bearing. Coffee is the only product whose
sale to Government is compulsory. All land is classified and subject to
a fixed rent, there is therefore a safeguard that the fruits of an
owner's industry will not be taxed. Anyone can complain if he thinks his
land is rated too high, and should be in a lower class, and the
complaint receives immediate attention. Though the population is large,
there is seldom any trouble about boundary marks in the padi fields.
Owners are content with long custom and local knowledge, and their
reliance on their host of native officials never fails. All new land
must be fenced round, if it is contiguous to Government land, and on all
plantations people must themselves plant trees as boundaries and upkeep
them. And one register of titles with columns filled in and signed,
according to its cultivation and classification, answers for all.
Lastly, let it be mentioned that there is a golden rule, that a native
cannot sell his land to anyone but his own countrym