Book I. AGRICULTURE IN ASIA. 153 



lever, on the extremity of which a man sits and guides a bullock that moves in a circle ; 

 thus turning and pressing the seed at tlie same time. The machine is simple, and yet 

 effectually answers the purpose. 



925. Among the vegetable jrrodactions of this countryy we may enumerate the white 

 sandal-tree, and the aloexylura verum, producing the true jet black ebony wood ; the 

 sycamore fig, Indian fig, and banyan tree; the bignonia indica, nauclea orientalis,. 

 corypha scribus, one of the loftiest of the palm trees, and excoecaria cochinchinensis, 

 remarkable for the crimson under surface of its leaves. To the class of plants used in 

 medicine and the arts, we may refer the ginger and cardamum, found wild on the sides 

 of rivers, and cultivated in great abundance ; the turmeric, used by the natives of the 

 coast to tinge and flavor their rice, and other food ; the betel pepper, fagara piperitae, 

 and three or four kinds of capsicum ; the justicia tinctoria, yielding a beautiful green 

 tinge ; morinda umbellata, gamboge, and carthamus, furnishing yellow dyes ; the red 

 wood of the lawsonia spinosa, and cisalpina sapan, and the indigo. The bark of the 

 nerium antidysentericum, called codagapala, and that of the laurus culilavan, the fruit 

 of the strychnos nux vomica, the cassia fistula, the tamarind, and the croton tiglium, the 

 inspissated juice of the aloe, the resin of the camphor tree, and the oil of the ricinus, 

 are occasionally imported from this country for the European dispensaries. The cin- 

 namon laurel, sometimes accompanied by the nutmeg, the sugar-cane, bamboo, and 

 spikenard, are found throughout the whole country; the last on dry hills; and the 

 bamboo and sugar cane in rich swamps. The sweet potatoe, ipomcea tuberosa, mad- 

 apple, and love-apple (solanum melongena, and lycopersicon), nymphaea, nelumbo, gourds, 

 melons, water-melons, and various other esculent plants, enrich, by cultivation, this 

 country ; and the plantain, cocoa-nut, and sago palm, are produced spontaneously. 

 The vine grows wild in the forests, but its fruit is indifferent for want of cultivation, 

 and through excess of heat, to that of the south of Europe ; but this country is amply 

 supplied with the mango, pine-apple, sapindus edulis, mangostan plum, averrhoa, caram- 

 bola, custard- apple, papaw-fig, orange, lemon, and lime, and many other exquisite fruits. 



926". The animals of the Birman empire correspond with those of Hindustan. The 

 wild elephants of Pegu are very numerous; and, allured by the early crops of rice,, 

 commit great devastation among the plantations that are exposed to their ravages. The 

 king is the proprietor of these animals; and one of his Birman majesty's titles is " lord 

 of the white elephants and of all the elephants in the world." The forests abound with 

 tigers. Their horses are small, but handsome and spirited, hardy and active ; and are 

 frequently exported in timber-ships bound for Madras and other parts of the coast, where 

 they are disposed of to considerable advantage. Their cows are diminutive, resembling 

 the breed on the coast of Coromandel ; but their buffaloes are noble animals, much 

 superior to those of India, and are used for draught and agriculture : some of them are of 

 a light cream colour, and are almost as fierce as tigers, who dare not molest them. The 

 ichneumon, or rat of Pharaoh, called by the natives ounbaii, is found in this country : 

 but there is no such animal as the jackal in the Ava dominions, though they are very 

 nmnerous in the adjoining country. Among the birds, which are the same with those 

 of other parts of India, is one called the henza, the symbol of the Birman nation, as the, 

 eagle was of the Roman empire. It is a species of wild fowl, called in India the 

 Bramin goose ; but the natives of Ava do not deify this bird. 



927. The agriculture of Java has been noticed by Thunberg, and more fully des- 

 cribed by Sir Stamford Raffles. 



928. The climate of Java, like that of other countries situated within about ten degrees 

 of the equator, presents a perpetual spring, summer, and harvest. The distinction of 

 weather is into wet and dry, never hot and cold, and rain depends on the winds. 



929. The surface of the countnj is low towards the coast, but hilly in the interior ; 

 ynhealthy about Batavia, but in most other parts as salubrious as any other tropical 

 country. 



930. The soil is for the most part rich, and remarkable for its depth ; probably, as 

 Governor Raffles conjectures, owing to its volcanic origin. 



931. Landed 2)roperty in Java is almost exclusively vested in the king, between whom 

 and the cultivator there are no intermediate holders; and the cultivator is without lease or 

 right beyond the will of the sovereign. The manner in which the king draws his 

 income from the whole surface of the country is by burdening certain '' villages or 

 estates with the salaries of particular officers, allotting others for the support of his 

 relatives or favorites, or granting them for the use of particular charitable institutions ; in 

 the same manner as before the consolidation act in Britain, the interest of particular loans 

 was paid upon the produce of specific imports." Tradesmen, government officers, 

 priests, and the government, are all alike paid in kind. 



932. The crops raised hij the farmer for home consumption are chiefly rice and maize, 

 some wheat is also grown; but the staple article is rice, of which one pound and a half 

 fier day is considered sufficient nourishment for an adult. 



