﻿516 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  in 
  the 
  archaic 
  Hindu-derived 
  script, 
  but 
  this 
  is 
  rapidly 
  giving 
  way 
  

   to 
  Arabic 
  and 
  Roman 
  writing. 
  

  

  ECONOMIC 
  ACTIVITIES 
  

  

  The 
  principal 
  economic 
  activity 
  is 
  agriculture. 
  Some 
  groups 
  still 
  

   subsist 
  largely 
  by 
  hunting 
  and 
  gathering 
  wild 
  products. 
  These 
  in- 
  

   clude 
  the 
  nomadic 
  Kubu 
  tribes 
  of 
  Sumatra, 
  the 
  Punan 
  of 
  Borneo, 
  and 
  

   a 
  few 
  of 
  the 
  remoter 
  peoples 
  of 
  the 
  eastern 
  islands. 
  The 
  archipelago 
  

   can 
  be 
  divided 
  into 
  three 
  main 
  agricultural 
  zones, 
  each 
  distinguished 
  

   by 
  its 
  principal 
  crop. 
  The 
  western 
  rice 
  zone 
  includes 
  all 
  the 
  Greater 
  

   Sunda 
  Islands 
  (Sumatra, 
  Borneo, 
  Celebes, 
  and 
  Java), 
  and 
  the 
  west- 
  

   ern 
  Lesser 
  Sundas 
  (Bali, 
  Lombok, 
  and 
  Sumbawa) 
  . 
  The 
  central 
  maize 
  

   area, 
  where 
  corn 
  is 
  the 
  mainstay 
  of 
  subsistence, 
  covers 
  the 
  eastern 
  

   Lesser 
  Sundas 
  and 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  southern 
  Moluccas, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  the 
  Sula 
  

   Islands 
  in 
  the 
  northern 
  Moluccas. 
  The 
  eastern 
  sago 
  zone, 
  where 
  the 
  

   natives 
  obtain 
  their 
  basic 
  food 
  supply 
  from 
  the 
  meal 
  of 
  the 
  sago 
  palm, 
  

   includes 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  southern 
  Moluccas, 
  nearly 
  all 
  of 
  the 
  northern 
  

   Moluccas, 
  and 
  runs 
  over 
  into 
  New 
  Guinea. 
  This 
  is 
  the 
  general 
  picture, 
  

   to 
  which 
  minor 
  exceptions 
  could 
  be 
  made 
  in 
  a 
  more 
  detailed 
  survey. 
  

   Also, 
  these 
  areas 
  are 
  not 
  mutually 
  exclusive; 
  maize 
  is 
  grown 
  in 
  

   regions 
  where 
  rice 
  is 
  predominant, 
  and 
  vice 
  versa; 
  while 
  sago 
  eaters 
  

   in 
  many 
  instances 
  also 
  plant 
  both 
  rice 
  and 
  maize. 
  Other 
  crops, 
  too, 
  

   are 
  cultivated, 
  such 
  as 
  coconuts, 
  yams, 
  taro, 
  and 
  several 
  varieties 
  of 
  

   vegetables, 
  but 
  the 
  three 
  main 
  products 
  are 
  rice, 
  maize, 
  and 
  sago. 
  

   Wet 
  rice, 
  grown 
  on 
  irrigated 
  fields, 
  was 
  introduced 
  into 
  the 
  islands 
  

   later 
  than 
  dry 
  rice, 
  which 
  is 
  planted 
  in 
  dry 
  earth 
  after 
  the 
  fields 
  have 
  

   been 
  cleared 
  and 
  burned 
  over. 
  Irrigated 
  rice 
  agriculture 
  has 
  yet 
  to 
  

   reach 
  the 
  interior 
  regions 
  of 
  the 
  large 
  western 
  islands, 
  and 
  is 
  almost 
  

   totally 
  unknown 
  in 
  the 
  eastern 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  Indies. 
  Even 
  dry 
  rice 
  has 
  

   not 
  spread 
  to 
  the 
  easternmost 
  islands, 
  nor 
  to 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  remoter 
  dis- 
  

   tricts 
  of 
  the 
  Greater 
  Sundas. 
  It 
  appears 
  thus 
  that 
  rice 
  is 
  not 
  a 
  very 
  

   ancient 
  product 
  of 
  Indonesia, 
  and 
  that 
  before 
  it 
  was 
  introduced, 
  per- 
  

   haps 
  about 
  2,000 
  years 
  ago, 
  yams, 
  taro, 
  and 
  millet 
  were 
  the 
  staple 
  

   crops. 
  Maize, 
  an 
  American 
  plant, 
  came 
  only 
  recently 
  to 
  the 
  Indies, 
  

   of 
  course. 
  The 
  areas 
  where 
  it 
  is 
  now 
  the 
  staple 
  formerly 
  had 
  millet 
  

   as 
  the 
  main 
  crop. 
  

  

  Dogs, 
  cats, 
  chickens, 
  pigs, 
  and 
  goats 
  are 
  the 
  oldest 
  domesticated 
  ani- 
  

   mals 
  of 
  Indonesia, 
  and 
  are 
  found 
  in 
  nearly 
  every 
  district. 
  Water 
  

   buffalo 
  and 
  cattle, 
  however, 
  would 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  much 
  more 
  recent, 
  

   and 
  are 
  still 
  absent 
  in 
  many 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  Indies. 
  Horses 
  and 
  sheep 
  

   are 
  the 
  newest 
  additions 
  among 
  the 
  animals, 
  the 
  former 
  having 
  prob- 
  

   ably 
  been 
  introduced 
  by 
  the 
  Hindus 
  and 
  the 
  latter 
  by 
  the 
  Europeans. 
  

   Animal 
  husbandry, 
  except 
  for 
  the 
  raising 
  of 
  pigs 
  and 
  chickens, 
  is 
  

   relatively 
  unimportant 
  in 
  Indonesian 
  economy, 
  and 
  the 
  native 
  diet 
  

  

  