Chinese Kampongs. — Secret Societies. 1 95 



ment is of opinion that their unchecked intercourse with the 

 natives would inevitabl}' prove prejudicial to the latter, wlio 

 are plundered by the Chinese in every possible manner. 

 Their main, indeed sole, object is to make money, and at all 

 public auctions it is they who chiefly buy at a small price, 

 and dii'ectly afterwards succeed in getting off their purchases 

 at an enormous advance. One can purchase of these Cliinese 

 dealers at prices almost unheard of for cheapness, but quality 

 and lasting capabilities are not guaranteed. A German 

 Tsa'iter compares the Kampong or Chinese quarter to a 

 Polish country toAvn on a fair day. Every house and store 

 is crammed with all manner of useless trash, and everywhere 

 there is the utmost bustle. The most various articles are 

 exposed for sale in each magazine. Here too are found the 

 Chinese theatrical booths, in which at various hours through- 

 out the day Chinese comedians, richly dressed in Chinese 

 fashion, perform Chinese plays, wliich are applauded by a 

 numerous ragged auditory, collected in the open space in 

 front ! 



Each Chinese colony, or Kampong^ has a chief, appointed 

 by government, with the title of lieutenant, captain, or 

 major, available within the limits of the Kampong, but 

 which, it is needless to say, confers no military privileges. 

 Those of the Chmese residing in Java belong to mutual 

 societies, whose members assist each other, and which have 

 not merely humanitarian, but also political tendencies. 



We are in possession of the affiliation- ticket of a meuiber 



o 2 



