THE TIMOE GROUP 349 



have also walls of clay with a thatch of grass or palm 

 leaves. Their agriculture is very perfect, and owing to the 

 fertility of the volcanic soil and the constant supply of 

 water for irrigation, their fields produce a continual succes- 

 sion of crops, giving the country the appearance of a vast 

 and highly-cultivated garden. The chief export is coffee, 

 of which £43,750 worth was shipped in 1890. Tobacco, 

 cattle, and copra to the amount of over £10,000 each 

 were also exported, but there is not otherwise much trade, 

 and these figures also include Lombok. 



The Balinese are fair handicraftsmen, especially m 

 gold and iron, making excellent weapons with the rudest 

 tools and appliances, including even long-barrelled guns 

 with flint locks, used in war and for shooting wild cattle. 

 The language, though written in the Javanese character, 

 and, like it, having two different forms or dialects — 

 the high and low Bahnese- — -is quite distinct. The 

 ancient Kawi language, extinct in Java, is still used by 

 the priests and in legal business. There is a written code, 

 both civil and criminal. Literature was abundantly 

 represented in almost all its branches, but a period of 

 decadence has set in, and the Balinese are no longer the 

 cultured race they were in former days. The religion 

 prevalent is a mixture of Buddhism and Brahmanism, 

 but numbers of the coast people are IMohammedans. 

 The people are divided, as among the old Hindus, into 

 four castes — priests, soldiers, merchants, and labourers, 

 and there is also a Pariah class ; the second order, that 

 of soldiers, includes almost all the rajas, gustis, and 

 governing classes. Caste prejudice and laws are still 

 very strong, and the burning of widows and slaves on 

 the death of great men is apparently still practised, 

 although the victims usually stab themselves before the 

 fire is lighted. 



